PHYSIOGNOMY 



FOUNDED ON 



PHYSIOLOGY, 



AND APPLIED TO VARIOUS 

COUNTRIES, PROFESSIONS, AND INDIVIDUALS: 

WITH 

AN APFENDIX ON THE BONES AT HYTHE -THE SCULLS OF THE ANCIENT 
INHABITANTS OF BRITAIN AND ITS INVADERS. 



BY ALEXANDER "WALKER, 

♦ ( 

FORMERLY LECTURER ON ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY 
AT EDINBURGH. 



illustrate i)g Cngrabtngs. 



LONDON: 
SMITH, ELDER AND CO., 65, CORNHILL. 

BOOKSELLERS, BY APPOINTMENT, TO THEIR MAJESTIES. 



1834. 



LONDON : 
PRINTED BY STEWART AND CO. 
OLD BAILEY. 



/ 



CONTENTS. 



Preliminary Remarks - - - - 1 
Points in which the Author lays claim to originality - 2 
CHAPTER I. —The Whole Body the Subject of Phy- 
siognomy - - - - 7 
General view of the human organs and functions - - \b 
Application to Physiognomy - - - - 18 
CHAPTER II. — The Head in particular as the Sub- 
ject of Physiognomy - - - 20 
Use assigned by the Author to the cerebellum - - 25 
Dr. Fleming's objectionsanswered - - - 36 
Criteria of the mental functions, or indications of the rela- 
tive power of sensation, intelligence, and volition 40 
Influence of the relative length and breadth of organs upon 

their functions - - - - 41 
CHAPTER III. — Application of these Principles to 

Animals in General - - - 4t 
Facial line of Camper - - - - -47 
Its not involving the cerebellum - -60 
CHi^-PTER IV. — Application of these Principles to 

the Sexes - - - - -63 

CHAPTER V. — Application of these Principles to the 

Varieties of the Human Species - - 66 

Method of Camper - - - - - ib. 

Method of Blumenbach - - - - - 69 

Their not involving the cerebellum - - - 74 



CONTENTS, 



Page 

Superiority of that now proposed to the methods of Camper 



and Blumenbach - - - -75 

Characters of the varieties of the human race according to 

this method - - - - - 79 

New view of the causes of these varieties - - 89 

CHAPTER VI. ■ — Application of these Principles to 

the English, Scottish, and Irish - - 101 

Origins of British population - - - - ib. 

Section I. — The English, &c. - - - ib. 

Characters of the English, Scottish, and Irish - 119 

Section II. — The French - - - -148 

Character of the French - - - - 149 

Section III. — The Germans - - - -170 

Greek and Gothic art - - - - 171 

Section IV. — The Italians - - - -177 

Comparison of the modern with the ancient Romans - 178 
CHAPTER VII. — Application of these Principles to 

Professions, &c. - 195 
CHAPTER VIII. — Application of these Principles to 
Individuals, or Basis which they afford 
for Physiognomy in general - - 199 

Section I. — ■ The head generally considered - - ib. 

Section II, — Advantages which the face presents as the 

subject of physiognomy - - - 203 

Refutation of Gall's doctrine - - 204 

Section III.— Classification of the parts which the face 

presents - 218 
Parts of the face giving mental, vital, or locomotive 

character - - - - - ib. 

As to mental character, volition as well as sensation 
displayed in the face, and advantages resulting 
from this - - - - - 219 

Mode in which the face affords physiognomical indi- 
cations - 222 



CONTENTS. 



V 



Page 

Section IV. — The organs of sense in particular - 224 

Cause of the number of these organs - - ib. 

Cause of their being double or single - - 225 

Cause of their different situations * 226 
Order of enumerating or considering them in relation 

to life or to mind - 230 
Section V. — Peculiar relation of each organ of sense to 
the brain, as essential to understanding the ex- 
pressions of each * 233 
An effect distinct in character produced by the action 

of each communicated to the brain - - 234 

Intellectual ideas, emotions, and passions, the distinct 
effects of the impressions of touch, vision, and 
hearing, respectively - - - - 237 

Animal emotions and passions, the effects of the im- 
pressions of smell and taste - • 239 
Relations of these organs and functions to each other 240 
Different indications which they consequently afford 242 
Section VI. — Physiognomical expressions of each organ 

of sense and the parts connected with it - 245 

1. Touch - - - - - - ib. 

The lips as indicating that sense - - ib. 

2. The mouth - - - - - 246 
The lips as indicating animal taste - - ib. 
Intellectual indications of the lips * - 247 
Active character and indications of the under lip - 249 
Passive character and indications of the upper lip - 250 
Sensual character of lips generally protruding - 253 
Controul indicated by depressions around them - 254 
Depressions of the upper lip, and pleasurable sen- 



sation - - - - - ib. 

The lips as indicating intellectual taste - - 255 

3. The nose - = - - - 256 

The nose as indicating the sense of smell - - 257 



CONTENTS. 



Page 



Intellectual indications of the nose - - 258 

Different character of the lower and upper part of 

the nose - - - - - ib. 

Different character of the upturned and drooping 

nose - - - - - - 260 

The nose as indicating sentiment - - - 261 

4. The eye .... - 264 
The eye as indicating the sense of vision - - ib. 
Intellectual indications of the eyes - - 265 
Active character and indications of protruding eyes ib. 
Passive character and indications of deepseated eyes ib. 
Active character of lower, and passive character of 

upper, eyelid - 267 

Different character of expanded and approximated 

eyelids - - - - - 268 

Different character of eyebrows - 269 

5. The ear 271 

The ear as indicating the sense of hearing - - ib. 

6. Parts belonging to the organ of voice - - 273-. 
Indications of various qualities of voice - - 274 
Intellectual indications connected with it - - 275 
Of the chin, &c. - ib. 

Section VII. — Correspondence between some parts of 

the face and posterior parts of the head •• - 277 

Conclusion - - - - - 279 

Appendix, on the Bones at Hythe - - - 280 

The Ancient British scull - - - 284 

The Gothic — Saxon or Danish scull - - 285 

The Roman scull - 286 



LIST OF EMBELLISHMENTS. 



The five principal varieties of the Human Species. Frontispiece 
Plate I. Diagram illustrating the chief divisions 

of the Head . . . .to face Page 20 

Plate II. Camper's Facial Line, applied to Man 
Plate III. Camper's Facial Line, applied to Animals 
Plate IV. Blumenbach's Vertical Rule . 
Plate V. Blumenbach's Varieties of Mankind 
Plate VI. Englishman — of the South-east 

Plate VII. Welshman 

Plate VIII. Scotsman — of the Lowlands "I j, Q ^ 



50 
55 
71 
72 
108 
111 

113 



Plate IX. Scotswoman— of the North-east J €ach other. 

Plate X. A Highlander 114 

Plate XL Irishman — of the North-east . . .117 
Plate XII. Irishman — of the South . . . .118 
Plate XIII. The Schoolmaster . . . . .195 

Plate XIV. The Physician - 196 

Plate XV. The Lawyer 197 

Plate XVI. The Clergyman 198 

Plate XVII. A Weaver 193 

Plate XVIII. A Miner 198 

Plate XIX. Craniological Organs according to Spurzheim 206 
Plate XX. Craniological Organs according to the Follow- 
ers of Dr. Spurzheim ...... 207 

Plate XXI. J Sculls of the Ancient Inhabitants of 1 283 
Plate XXII. \ Britain, and of its Invaders . J 285 
Thirty-six Illustrative Sketches of Parts of the 

Face, &c 247 to 276 



ERRATUM. 

In page 36, and elsewhere, for Flemming, read Fleming. 



PRELIMINARY REMARKS. 



" The finger of God," saith Sir Thomas Brown, 
" hath left an inscription upon all his works, not 
graphical or composed of letters, but of their se- 
veral forms, constitutions, parts and operations, 
which, aptly joined together, do make one word 
that doth express their natures/' 

Here, an important truth is beautifully and 
poetically expressed. This, however, may be done 
more plainly and philosophically, by saying, that 
the action of all bodies must depend upon their 
structure — their functions upon their organization, 
and that therefore the external appearance of or- 

B 



2 PRELIMINARY REMARKS. 

ganization correctly indicates function. This is 
the foundation of physiognomy. 

It is necessary here to explain, that the writer's 
views have nothing to do with craniology. This 
observation is necessary, because general readers 
are not always aware, that, while the greatest 
physiologists have established the general truth, 
that the nervous system is the organ of the mind, 
the craniologists have only availed themselves of 
this to found upon it an erroneous doctrine. 

As the author's object was to present to the 
reader a system of physiognomy, and it was there- 
fore necessary for him in some measure to profit by 
the labours of others, it is right that he should in- 
dicate the only points on w r hich he can himself lay 
any claim to originality. These are as follows : — - 

The general arrangement of anatomy and phy- 
siology ; 

The application of this to physiology ; 

Its application to physiognomy ; 

The assignment of the use of the cerebellum ; 

The pointing out of accurate criteria and indi- 
cations of the relative power of the various mental 
functions ; 



PRELIMINARY REMARKS. 3 

The explanation of the influence of the relative 
length and breadth of organs upon their functions ; 

The application of preceding principles to the 
varieties of the human species ; 

New view of the causes of these varieties ; 

New views as to the origins of British popu- 
lation ; 

The analysis of English, Scottish and Irish cha- 
racter ; # 

The analysis of French character ;f 
The comparison of Greek and Gothic art ; 
The comparison of the modern with the ancient 
Romans ;J 

The application of the preceding principles to 
individuals, or basis which they afford for physi- 
ognomy in general ; 

The refutation of GalPs doctrine ; 

The distinction of the parts of the face, as giving 
locomotive, vital, or mental character ; 

* An outline of this was communicated by the writer to 
Blackwood's Magazine for November, 1829. 

f An outline communicated to the same Magazine for 
September, 1829. 

X An outline, to the same for September, 1829. 

B 2 



4 PRELIMINARY REMARKS. 

The explanation of the advantages arising from 
the face displaying volition as well as sensation; 

The explanation of the mode in which the face 
affords physiognomical indications ; 

The explanation of the cause of the number of 
the organs of sense ; 

The explanation of the cause of their being 
double or single ; 

The explanation of the cause of their different 
situations ; 

The explanation of the cause of their animal or 
intellectual relations ; 

The explanation of the peculiar relation of each 
organ of sense to the brain, as essential to under- 
standing the expressions of each ; an effect distinct 
in character being produced by the action of each 
of these organs w 7 hen communicated to the 
brain ; 

The reasoning to shew that intellectual ideas, 
emotions, and passions are the distinct effects of 
the impressions of touch, vision, and hearing, re- 
spectively ; 

The reasoning to shew that animal emotions and 



PRELIMINARY REMARKS. 5 

passions are the effects of the impressions of smell 
and taste, respectively ; 

The description of the relation of these organs 
and functions to each other ; 

The explanation of the different indications 
which they consequently afford ; 

The explanation of the physiognomical expres- 
sions of each organ of sense and the parts con- 
nected with it. — As nearly the whole of these are 
new, and as most of them are indicated in the 
table of contents, it is unnecessary to enumerate 
them here ; 

The indication of the correspondence between 
some parts of the face and of the posterior parts 
of the head. 

It seems necessary, in these preliminary remarks, 
to say that, while the chief disappointment in 
physiognomy has arisen from the utter want of 
principles, some has ensued from extravagant ex- 
pectations. Physiognomy can indicate only capa- 
cities and capabilities, and never or very rarely, indi- 
vidual actions. Probable conclusions as to virtues 
and vices may, indeed, be drawn ; and, where in- 



6 PRELIMINARY REMARKS. 

diligences have become habitual, and have altered 
external appearance, these may be predicted. 

An old physiognomist has recommended the ob- 
server to assume the expressions of those he meets, 
in order to discover their minds. I must say, that 
I have found even the slightest assumption of such 
expression an excellent guide ; and I am convinced, 
that those who add this to a knowledge of the fol- 
lowing principles, will find few difficulties in phy- 
siognomy. 



The first and second Chapters of the work may 
seem too anatomical for general readers ; but those 
who carefully peruse them, will find themselves 
amply repaid by the facility which this will ensure 
during the subsequent study of the science 



7 



CHAPTER I. 

THE WHOLE BODY, THE SUBJECT OF PHY- 
SIOGNOMY. 

Physiognomists have erred in considering the 
head alone as the subject of their science. That 
science applies to the whole body. The basis of 
its first distinctions, is the relative development of 
the three different systems — locomotive, vital, and 
mental, of which the body is composed. These, 
therefore, must be the first subjects of our enquiry. 

In viewing the human organs in a general man- 
ner, a class of these organs at once obtrudes itself 
upon our notice, from its consisting of an apparatus 
of levers, from its performing motion from place to 
place, or locomotion, and from these motions being 
of the most obvious kind. — A little more observa- 



8 THE WHOLE BODY, 

tion presents to us another class, which is distin- 
guished from the preceding by its consisting of 
cylindrical tubes, by its transmitting and trans- 
muting liquids, or performing vascular action, and 
by its motions being barely apparent. — Further 
investigation discovers a third, which differs essen- 
tially from both these, in its consisting of nervous 
particles, in its transmitting impressions from ex- 
ternal objects, or performing nervous action, and 
in that action being altogether invisible. 

Thus, each of these classes of organs is distin- 
guished from another by the structure of its parts, 
by the purposes which it serves, and by the greater 
or less obviousness of its motions. 

The first consists of levers ; the second, of cylin- 
drical tubes; and the third, of nervous particles. 
The first performs motion from place to place, or 
locomotion ; the second transmits and transmutes 
liquids, or performs vascular action ; and the third 
transmits impressions from external objects, or 
performs nervous action. The motion of the first 
is extremely obvious ; that of the second is barely 



THE SUBJECT OF PHYSIOGNOMY. 9 

apparent ; and that of the third is altogether in- 
visible. 

Not one of them can be confounded with ano- 
ther : for, considering their purposes only, it is 
evident that, that which performs locomotion, 
neither transmits liquids, nor sensations ; that 
which transmits liquids, neither performs locomo- 
tion, nor is the means of sensibility ; and that 
which is the means of sensibility, neither performs 
locomotion, nor transmits liquids. 

Now, the organs employed in locomotion are the 
bones, ligaments and muscles ; those employed in 
transmitting liquids are the absorbent, circulating, 
and secreting vessels ; and those employed about 
sensations are the organs of sense, cerebrum, and 
cerebellum, with the nerves which connect them. 

The first class of organs may, therefore, be termed 
locomotive, or (from their very obvious action) me- 
chanical ; the second, vascular, or (as even vegeta- 
bles, from their possessing vessels, have life) they 
may be termed vital ; and the third may be named 
nervous, or (as mind results from them) mental. 

b 5 



10 THE WHOLE BODY, 

The human body, then, consists of organs of 
three kinds. By the first kind, locomotive or me- 
chanical action is effected \ by the second, nutri- 
tive or vital action is maintained ; and by the third, 
thinking or mental action is permitted. 

Anatomy is, therefore, divided into three parts, 
namely, that which considers the locomotive or 
mechanical organs ; that which considers the nu- 
tritive or vital organs ; and that which considers 
the thinking or mental organs. 

Under the locomotive or mechanical organs, 
are classed, first, the bones, or organs of support ; 
second, the ligaments, or organs of articulation ; 
and third, the muscles, or organs of motion. 

Under the nutritive or vital organs, are classed, 
first, the absorbent vessels, or organs of absorption 
second, the blood-vessels, which drive their con- 
tents from the absorbed lymph, or organs of cir- 
culation; and third, the secreting vessels, which 
separate various matters from the blood, or organs 
of secretion. 

Under the thinking or mental organs, are classed, 
first, the organs of sense, where impressions take 



THE SUBJECT OF PHYSIOGNOMY. 11 



place ; second, the cerebrum, or organ of thought, 
where these excite ideas ; and third, the cerebellum, 
or organ of volition (placed under the back part 
of the brain, or immediately over the neck), where 
acts of the will result from the last. # 

* To some it may appear, that the organs and functions of 
digestion, respiration, and generation, are not involved by this 
arrangement ; but such a notion can originate only in super- 
ficial observation. 

Digestion is a compound function easily reducible to some 
of the simple ones which have been enumerated. It consists 
of the motion of the stomach and contiguous parts, of the se- 
cretion of a liquid from its internal surface, and of that heat, 
which is the common result of all action, whether locomotive, 
vital, or mental, and which is better explained by such 
motion, than by chemical theories. Similarly compound are 
respiration and generation. 

Thus, there is no organ nor function which is not involved 
by the simple and natural arrangement here sketched. 

Compound, however, as the organs of digestion, respiration 
and generation are, yet, as they form so important a part of 
the system, it may be asked, " With which of these classes 
they are most allied V The answer is obvious. All of them 
consist of tubular vessels of various diameter; and all of them 
transmit and transmute liquids. Possessing such strong cha- 
racteristics of the vital system, they are evidently most allied 
to it. 

In short, digestion prepares the vital matter, which is taken 
up by absorption — the first of the simple vital functions ; re- 
spiration renovates it in the very middle of its course — be- 
tween the two portions of the simple function of circulation ; 
and generation, dependent on secretion — the last of these 



12 THE WHOLE BODY, 

We may now more particularly notice the func- 
tions of these organs, which are the subject of 
Physiology. 

In the locomotive functions, the bones at once 
give support, and form levers for motion ; the liga- 
ments form articulations, and afford the points of 
support ; and the muscles are the moving powers. 
To the first, are owing all the symmetry and ele- 

functions, communicates this vital matter, or propagates vi- 
tality to a new series of beings. In such arrangement, the 
digestive organs, therefore, precede, and the generative follow, 
the simple vital organs ; while the respiratory occupy a mid- 
dle place between the venous and the arterial circulation. 

Nothing can be more improper, as the preceding observa- 
tions shew, than considering any one of these as a distinct 
class. 

More fully, therefore, to enumerate the vital organs, we 
may say that, under them, are classed, first, the organs of 
digestion, the external and internal absorbent surfaces, and 
the vessels which absorb from these surfaces, or the organs of 
absorption ; second, the heart, lungs, and blood vessels, which 
derive their contents (the blood) from the absorbed lymph, or 
the organs of circulation ; and third, the secreting cavities, 
glands, &c. which separate various matters from the blood, 
or the organs of secretion, and of which generation is the 
sequel. _ 

This Arrangement of Anatomy, and the following one of 
Physiology, as well as the views on which the former is 
founded, were first published by the writer in 1806, and 
afterwards in " Preliminary Lectures," Edinburgh, 1808. 



THE SUBJECT OF PHYSIOGNOMY. 13 

gance of human form ; to the second, its beautiful 
flexibility ; and to the third, all the grace and bril- 
liance of motion which fancy can inspire, or skill 
can execute. 

In the vital functions, the food, having passed 
t into the mouth, is, after mastication, thrown back 
by the tongue and contiguous parts into the cavity 
behind, called fauces and pharynx ; this contract- 
ing, presses it into the oesophagus or gullet ; this 
also contracting, propels it into the stomach, which, 
after due digestion, similarly contracting, trans- 
mits whatever portion of it is sufficiently commi- 
nuted to pass through its lower opening, the py- 
lorus, into the intestines ; these, similarly pressing 
it on all sides, urge forward its most solid part to 
the anus; while its liquid portion partly escapes 
from their pressure into the mouths of the absor- 
bents. The absorbents, continuing a similar con- 
tractile motion, transmit it, under the name of 
chyle, through their general trunk, the thoracic 
duct, into the great veins contiguous to the heart, 
whence it flows into the anterior side of that 
organ. The anterior side of the heart, forcibly 



14 THE WHOLE BODY, 

repeating this contraction, propels it, commixed 
with the dark and venous blood, into the lungs, 
which perform the office of respiration, and in 
some measure of sanguification ; there, giving off' 
carbonaceous matter, and assuming a vermilion 
hue, it flows back into the posterior side of the 
heart. The posterior side of the heart, still simi- 
larly contracting, discharges it into the arteries ; 
these maintaining a like contraction, carry it over 
all the system ; and a great portion of it, impreg- 
nated with carbon, and of a dark colour, returns 
through the veins, in order to undergo the same 
course. Much, however, of its gelatinous and 
fibrous part is retained in the cells of the vascular 
parenchyma forming the basis of the whole fabric, 
and constitutes nutrition ; while other portions of 
it become entangled in the peculiarly formed laby- 
rinths of the glands, and form secretion and excre- 
tion. As digestion precedes the first, so genera- 
tion follows the last of these functions, and not 
only continues the same species of action, but pro- 
pagates it widely to new existences, in the manner 
just described. 



THE SUBJECT OF PHYSIOGNOMY. 15 

In the mental functions, the organs of sense re- 
ceive external impressions, which excite in them 
sensations ; the cerebrum, having these transmitted 
to it, performs the more complicated functions of 
mental operation, whence result ideas, emotions^ 
and passions ; and the cerebellum, being similarly- 
influenced, performs the function of volition, or 
causes the acts of the will. 

It is not unusual to consider the body as being 
divided into the head, the trunk and the extremi- 
ties ; but, in consequence of the hitherto universal 
neglect of the natural arrangement of the organs 
and functions into locomotive, vital, and mental, 
the beauty and interest which may be attached to 
this division, have equally escaped the notice of 
anatomists. 

It is a curious fact, and strongly confirmative of 
the preceding arrangements, that one of these parts 
— the extremities, consists almost entirely of loco- 
motive organs, namely, of bones, ligaments, and 
muscles ; that another — the trunk, consists of all 
the greater vital organs, namely, absorbents, blood- 
vessels, and glands ; and that the third — the head, 



16 



THE WHOLE BODY, 



contains all the mental organs, namely, the organs 
of sense, cerebrum, and cerebellum. # 

It is a fact not less curious nor less confirma- 
tive of the preceding arrangements, that, of these 
parts, those which consist chiefly of locomotive or 
mechanical organs — organs which, as to mere 
structure, and considered apart from the influence 
of the nervous system over them, are common to 
us with the lowest class of beings, namely mine- 
rals, t are placed in the lowest situation, namely, 
the extremities ; that which consists chiefly of 
vital organs — organs common to us with a higher 
class of beings, namely vegetables, J is placed in 
a higher situation, namely, the trunk ; and that 

* In perfect consistency with the assertion, that, though 
the organs of digestion, respiration, and generation, were really 
compound, still they were chiefly vital, and properly belong 
to that class, it is not less remarkable, that in this division of 
the body, they are found to occupy that part — the trunk, in 
which the chief simple vital organs are contained. This also 
shows the impropriety of reckoning any of these a separate 
system from the vital. 

f The bones resemble these, in containing the greatest 
quantity of mineral matter. 

% It is the possession of vessels which constitutes the vita- 
lity of vegetables. 



TH£ : SUBJECT OF PHYSIOGNOMY. 17 

which consists chiefly of mental organs — organs 
peculiar to the highest class of beings, namely 
animals, # is placed in the highest situation, name- 
ly, the head. 

It is not less remarkable, that this analogy is 
supported even in its minutest details ; for, to 
choose the vital organs contained in the trunk as 
an illustration, it is a fact that those of absorption 
and secretion, which are most common to us with 
plants — a lower class of beings, have a lower 
situation — in the cavity of the abdomen; while 
those of circulation, which are very imperfect 
in plants, f and more peculiar to animals — - a 
higher class of beings, hold a higher situation — 
in the cavity of the thorax. 

It is, moreover,* worthy of remark, and still illus- 
trative of the preceding arrangements, that, in 
each of these situations, the bones differ both in 
position and in form. In the extremities, they are 
situate internally to the soft parts, and are gene- 

* In animals alone, is nervous matter discoverable, 
f Plants have no real circulation, nor passage of their 
nutritive liquid through the same point, 



18 THE WHOLE BODY, 

rally of cylindrical form ; in the trunk, they begin 
to assume a more external situation and a flatter 
form, because they protect vital and more impor- 
tant parts, which they do not, however, altogether 
cover; and, in the head, they obtain the most 
external situation and the flattest form, especially 
in its highest part, because they protect mental 
and most important organs, which, in some parts, 
they completely invest. 

The loss of such general views is the conse- 
quence of arbitrary methods. 

To Physiognomy, then, these anatomical and 
physiological views will be found to be immedi- 
ately applicable. 

In some men, the bones are large and the skele- 
ton well proportioned, the joints strongly and firmly 
knit, and the muscles swelling and powerful. The 
limbs, in this case, bear a large proportion to the 
body ; and every motion is either determined or 
springy. This constitutes beauty of the locomo- 
tive system. It is exemplified in the Hercules or 
the Gladiator, and sometimes in the men of our 
Scottish border, or Highlands, 



THE SUBJECT OF PHYSIOGNOMY. 19 

In other men, the body is large, and the limbs 
proportionally short and slender ; and even pro- 
gression is effected rather by the roll of the trunk 
which lifts with it the limbs, than by any power of 
the limbs themselves. This constitutes, in men, 
an excess of the vital system. It is exemplified in 
the Saxon population of England. 

In others, still, there is a defect of the preceding 
characteristics ; but the head is large, the coun- 
tenance expressive, and the language and manners 
indicative of thought. This constitutes beauty of 
the mental system. It is best exemplified in the 
remains of Grecian sculpture — in the high and 
not too wide forehead s of Homer, Epicurus, Hippo- 
crates, &c, and in the comparatively few living 
men — few in all countries, who lead and advance 
civilization. 

This needs no other illustration here, as the 
author has devoted a separate work to the Analy- 
sis and Classification of Beauty. — The above suf- 
ficiently shows, that the whole body is the subject 
of physiognomyo 



20 



CHAPTER II. 

THE HEAD IN PARTICULAR, AS THE SUBJECT 
OF PHYSIOGNOMY* 

The superiority of man over other animals in re- 
gard to mind, led physiologists, at an early period, 

* Previous to the following observations referring to the 
cranium or scull, persons unacquainted with anatomy, and 
unaccustomed to its terms, may peruse this note. 

The cranium or scull consists of an upper portion, named 
calvarium, and a lower, named the face. — The calvarium 
forms two internal cavities, called encephalic, of which the 
largest is named cerebral, from its containing the cerebrum, 
and the smallest (which in man is under the posterior part of 
the cerebral cavity, just as the face is under its anterior part) 
is named cerebellic, from its containing the cerebellum. — The 
face also presents to us various important parts : the os 
frontis or bone of the forehead ; the ossa parietalia or lateral 
bones of the head ; the os occipitis or posterior and inferior 
bone of it; the orbits which contain the eyes ; the superci- 
liary ridges or upper margins of these orbits ; the glabella or 



THE HEAD IN PARTICULAR. 



21 



to seek for some corresponding difference in the 
brain. 

They, in the first instance, naturally compared 
the proportion, which the brain bears to the body ; 
and the result of this, in the more common animals, 
was so satisfactory, that they adopted it as a rule, 
that man has the largest brain in proportion to his 
body. 

Later physiologists, however, found that, in 
some birds, the proportion of the brain to the body 
exceeds that of man ; and that several mammalia 
equal man in this respect. 

space between them ; the frontal sinuses or cavities within 
the bone, between and above the orbits ; the prominences of 
the cheeks, called ossamalarum; the cavities behind them, 
called temporal fossse ; the bony arches, called zygoma, which 
extend backward over these fossse toward the ear ; the meatus 
auditorius or passage from the outer to the inner ear; the 
ossa maxillaria or jaw bones; the malar or maxillary fossse, 
which are below the prominences of the cheeks ; the alveolar 
processes, which are covered by the gums, and contain the 
teeth ; the ossa nasi or bones of the nose ; the nares or in- 
ternal cavities of the nose ; the choana or posterior passage 
between the nose and mouth ; the palate or roof of the 
mouth; the angles of the inferior maxillary or lower jaw 
bone ; the foramen magnum or great occipital hole in the 
basis of the scull, &c. 



22 THE HEAD IN PARTICULAR, 

No positive conclusion assuredly can be drawn 
from a comparison of the body, of which the bulk 
is rendered variable by many causes, with the 
brain, which is not subject to the influence of such 
causes. 

Even, however, if this objection were obviated, 
no useful conclusion could be derived from a me- 
thod in whkh the cerebrum and cerebellum are 
undistingui shingly involved. 

As later observations had overturned the previous 
conclusion, Sommerring adopted another point of 
comparison, viz. the proportion, which the mass of 
the brain bears to the nerves arising from it. 

Supposing the brain to be divided into two parts, 
— the first including that which is immediately con- 
nected with the sensorial extremities of the nerves, 
■ — the second, the rest of the brain, — Sommerring 
asserts, that, in proportion as any animal possesses 
a larger share of the latter, and more noble part — 
that is (as he conceives) in proportion as the organ 
of reflexion exceeds that of the external senses, 
are the powers of the mind more developed and 
vigorous. In this point of view, man is superior. 



THE SUBJECT OF PHYSIOGNOMY. 23 

All the simiae, says Sommerring, are placed far 
behind man in this respect. Although the brain, 
in some instances, particularly among the smaller 
kinds, which have prehensile tails, is larger in 
proportion to their body than that of the human 
subject, — yet a very large share of that brain is re- 
quired for the immense nerves, which supply their 
organs of sense and mastication. If that portion 
be removed, a small quantity will remain. 

From his researches on animals in general, Som- 
merring concludes, that the quantity of brain over 
and above that which is necessary for mere animal 
existence — that part (as he conceives) which is 
devoted to the faculties of the mind, bears a direct 
ratio to the docility of the animal and to its rank 
in an intellectual scale. 

The largest brain which Sommerring found in a 
horse, weighed 1 lb. 4oz. and the smallest in an 
adult man, 21b. 5|-oz. Yet the nerves arising from 
the former were at least ten times larger than those 
of the latter. 

The proportion of the brain to the medulla 
oblongata, a distinct portion of its base, was esti- 



24 THE HEAD IN PARTICULAR, 

mated by the measure of their diameters by Sbm- 
merring and Ebel, who endeavoured to shew, that 
this proportion is more in favour of the brain in 
man, than in other animals, and that it is a good 
criterion of the degree of intelligence an animal 
enjoys, because it shows the pre -eminence which 
the organ of reflexion preserves over those of the 
external senses. There are, however, some excep- 
tions to this rule ; and that which the dolphin 
affords, is very remarkable, 

In man, the breadth of the medulla oblongata, 
behind the pons varolii is to that of the brain 
as 1:7. — In the dolphin, as 1 : 13. 

All reasonings, however, such as these of Som- 
merring, which at once involve the cerebrum and 
cerebellum — the greater and less brain, must be 
false, for this cause, that, while, in two different 
animals, the relative magnitudes of the whole brain 
and of the face are the same, the relative magni- 
tudes of the cerebral and cerebellic portions do 
often differ ; and, as it will readily be granted that 
they perform different functions, this must occasion 
the greatest possible difference in the intellectual 



THE SUBJECT OF PHYSIOGNOMY. 25 

powers of animals, Such a method must, there- 
fore, lead to deceitful conclusions. # 

As to the comparison of the cerebrum with the 
cerebellum, their respective functions not being 
understood by anatomists, they cannot tell what 
it indicates. As a monkey (Sai'miri — 1:14) 
stands at one, and a mouse (1 : 2) at the other ex- 
tremity of this scale, they will hardly insist that it 
points out relative energy of mind, for in that case, 
man must be inferior to either the one or the other 
of these animals. 

Finding the observation of Sommerring inaccu- 
rate, I was naturally induced to seek cautiously for 
a better criterion. 

In order to explain the criteria which appear to 
me preferable, because they arise out of the nature 
and the parts of the organ, I must observe, that 
the degrees of the sensitive, intellectual, and volun- 
tary functions may be very variously combined, 
and that it seems first necessary to determine what 
are their organs. 

That the organs of sense are the organs of sen- 

* The situations of these organs are indicated in Plate I . 
c 



26 THE HEAD IN PARTICULAR, 

sation, is questioned by no one ; that the brain is 
the organ of intellect, is also granted ; and in this 
view, it only remains to be determined, what is the 
organ of volition. 

I shall endeavour to do this in the words of a 
communication made by me to Thomson's Annals 
of Philosophy for July 1815, in reply to some ob- 
servations of Dr. Leach and Dr. Cross. 

Willis thought the cerebellum was the organ of 
involuntary power. " The office of the cerebel," 
says he, " seems to be for the animal spirits to 
supply some nerves, by which involuntary actions, 
which are made after a constant manner unknown 
to us, or whether we will or no, are performed."*' 

Willis was right in assigning to the cerebellum 
the involuntary motions; but he erred in exclud- 
ing the voluntary ones ; for the cerebellum is the 
source of all motion, voluntary and involuntary, 
as I shall shew in the sequel : while it is the 
source of every impulse on the muscular system, 
voluntary is always changed into involuntary power 
only by ganglia on the cerebellic nerves. 

* On the Brain, chap. xv. 



THE SUBJECT OF PHYSIOGNOMY. 27 

Haller says " Convulsiones artuum constanter 
vidimus in animalibus supervenisse, quorum cere- 
bellum vulneraveramus, — - Et de convulsionibus 
dictum est, quse sunt musculorum voluntarioruni. 
Ex cerebello etiam, si ullus, quintus sensui desti- 
natus et voluntario motui nervus prodet. Quare 
collectis omnibus, videtur cerebellum et a cerebro 
hactenus parum differre, et graves in utrovis Isesi- 
ones mortem inferre, leviores in utroque tolerari 
Deinde cerebrum ad vitalia organa et sentientem 
vim et moventem mittere, et ad partes mentis arbi- 
trio subjectas cerebellum." Here, then, it appears 
that Haller, after proceeding upon an ' it is said' 
as to the convulsion of the voluntary muscles,— 
observing that the fifth pair coming from the cere- 
bellum is, however, destined both to sense and mo- 
tion, —and thinking that, upon the whole, the cere- 
bellum in so far differs little from the cerebrum, — 
at last concludes that the cerebrum seems to send 
both feeling and moving power to the vital organs, 
while the cerebellum sends both feeling and mov- 
ing power to the parts which are subject to the will. 

Now, from this, I differ by asserting, that the 
c 2 



28 THE HEAD IN PARTICULAR, 

cerebrum sends neither sensation nor motion to 
any part, but merely receives sensation from the 
organs of sense ; while the cerebellum has not only 
nothing to do with sensation, as Haller erroneously 
asserts, but sends motion both to the voluntary 
and to the involuntary parts, — or, in other words, 
both to the mechanical or locomotive, and to the 
vital or nutritive system, which Haller inaccu- 
rately excludes from its influence. The motions 
of the vital, are, however, not less important than 
those of the locomotive system. 

The term volition, however, may be still applied 
to the function of this organ, whether voluntary or 
involuntary action be its result, because the im- 
pulse of the cerebellum on which they both depend, 
is one and the same, and the involuntary power is a 
modification of that impulse or of its effects, pro- 
duced only by ganglia on certain fibrils of thecere- 
bellic nerves. This extended meaning of the word 
volition is perfectly analogous to that of the term 
sensation; for though sensation does not exist 
separately, except in those animals which have no 
sensorium commune, — though, in man, it is.inse- 



THE SUBJECT OF PHYSIOGNOMY. 29 

parable from perception, yet still is the simple term 
sensation employed. 

I shall now state some of my reasons for asserting, 
that the organs of sense being those of sensation, 
and the cerebrum that of mental operation, the 
cerebellum is the organ of volition, or rather of all 
the motions of animals, voluntary and involuntary. 

1. There are three distinct intellectual organs or 
classes of intellectual organs, namely, the organs 
of sense, the cerebrum, and the cerebellum. — That 
the cerebellum, though separated from the cere- 
brum only by membranes in man, is not on that 
account less distinct from it than are the organs of 
sense separated by bony plates, is rendered evident 
by the consideration, that membranes form, in the 
one case, as effectual a separation as bony plates do 
in the other ; that many animals # have a bony 
tentorium between the cerebrum and the cerebel- 
lum, as they have bony plates between the cere- 
brum and face ; and that others (birds) have mera- 

* Viz. most species of the cat and bear kind, the martin 
(mustela martes), the coaita (cercopithecus paniscus), and 
others. 



30 THE HEAD IN PARTICULAR, 

branes between the cerebrum and face, as they 
have a membranous tentorium between the cere- 
brum and cerebellum, 

2. There are three distinct intellectual [mental] 
functions or classes of intellectual [mental] func- 
tions, namely, sensation, mental operation, and vo- 
lition. 

3. Of these organs, those of the senses are the 
first, the cerebrum intermediate, and the cerebel- 
lum the last. — For although the face, containing 
the organs of sense, and the cerebellum, are, in 
different animals, very differently placed with re- 
gard to the cerebrum, yet there is a peculiar rela- 
tion between the situation of one of these and that 
of the other with regard to it. In other words, 
although the face is sometimes in one situation 
and sometimes in another with relation to the cere- 
brum, yet, to each given variation of its situation 
with regard to that body, there is a corresponding 
and uniformily accompanying variation in the si- 
tuation of the cerebellum. Thus as, in man, the 
face is placed below the anterior part of the cere- 
brum, so is the cerebellum placed below its pos- 



THE SUBJECT OF PHYSIOGNOMY. 31 

terior part ; and precisely as, in the inferior ani- 
mals, the face advances, precisely so does the cere- 
bellum recede, till, in those animals in which the 
face is placed exactly before the cerebrum, the 
cerebellum is placed exactly behind it. # 

4. Of the functions, sensation is the first, men- 
tal operation intermediate, and volition the last. — 
That sensation precedes and excites, if it do not 
generate, mental operation, few will deny ; that 
mental operation, however rapid or evanescent, 
precedes and excites volition, or that the motive 
to an action must precede the action, none will 
refuse ; and that, of any one series of mental ac- 
tion, volition is the last stage, all must admit. 

5. As then, the cerebellum is the last of the in- 
tellectual organs, and volition the last of the in- 
tellectual functions, and as, at the same time, there 
is no organ without function, nor function without 
organ, it follows, that the cerebellum must be the 
organ of volition. 

* The cerebellic cavity, moreover, seems uniformly to com- 
mence on the inside of the base of the cranium exactly oppo- 
site to the place where the face or the lower jaw terminates 
on the outside. 



32 THE HEAD IN PARTICULAR, 

6. In perfect conformity with this truth, the in- 
ferior animals, however defective in intellect, pos- 
sess motion ; and, in almost ail of them which have 
any visible nervous system, a cerebellum, the or- 
gan of that motion, exists. — This leads me to an 
observation which seems to me to possess consi- 
derable interest and beauty. As we descend among 
animals, one of the three portions of the nervous 
system and one of its three general functions gra- 
dually disappear. Now it is not the first and the 
last portions of the nervous system — it is not the 
organs of sense and the cerebellum, neither is it 
their respective functions, sensation and volition, 
which are thus lost. It is the cerebrum and men- 
tal operation which are. This organ is, among 
men, most conspicuous in the Caucasian race ; and 
we accordingly find that that race alone has culti- 
vated the sciences. It is less even in the Mongol 
and Ethiop, who have ever disregarded them. It 
gradually disappears and ultimately evanishes, 
as we descend among quadrupeds, birds, reptiles, 
fishes, &c, and with it gradually disappear and 
ultimately evanish the powers of thought. But 



THE SUBJECT OF PHYSIOGNOMY. 33 

organs of sense and a cerebellum, sensation and 
volition, yet remain to characterize myriads of 
animals below these. 

7. This truth receives new confirmation when 
we observe, that the degrees of voluntary power 
always bear a close analogy to the various magni- 
tudes of the cerebellum. In fishes, for instance, 
which possess amazing locomotive power, the cere- 
bellum is often larger than the cerebrum ; and they 
sometimes possess an additional tubercle, which 
seems to Cuvier to form a second cerebellum ! 

This is a general principle, [for] if we compare 
the cerebella of birds with those of quadrupeds, 
we find the former larger in proportion to the 
brain, consistently with their more intense, fre- 
quent, and rapid voluntary motion ; and if we 
compare the cerebella of fishes with those of birds, 
we find the former, in both these respects, excel 
the latter. But if we enter into more particular 
examinations — if we compare those parts in the 
genera and species of animals, as Cuvier has 
done, our observations must be more partic- 
ular than his — we must attend not only to the 



34 THE HEAD IN PARTICULAR, 

general magnitude of the organs, but to their 
particular form ; for (I now repeat an important 
fact which I, prior I believe to any other person, 
announced some years ago) — " on the length of 
the cerebral organs depends the intensity of their 
function, and on the breadth of these organs, the 
permanence of their function." 

As liquids pass with greater velocity through the 
narrow portion of a tube than through its wider 
parts, precisely so must all nervous action pass be- 
tween the parieties of the organs — the tubes of 
the neurilema, whether that action be performed 
by fluids, by liquids, or by globules as proved by 
Prochaska and others. That the nervous matter 
is thus laterally confined by the neurilema, is 
proved by the circumstance of the ends of nerves 
expanding when cut ; and they are, therefore, in so 
far subject to similar laws with liquids contained 
in tubes. # 

* It is perhaps also for the same reason, that in a galvanic 
battery, the intensity of its action seems to correspond with 
the number of the plates (for the igniting power is as the 
number), and the permanence of its action with the magnitude 
of the plates. Accordingly, M. de Luc observes, that the num- 



THE SUBJECT OF PHYSIOGNOMY. 35 

This curious and important fact may be illus- 
trated from the classes of animals ; for the later- 
ally compressed and high cerebellum of birds 
corresponds admirably with the intensity of their 
voluntary powers, and the depressed and flat cere- 
bellum of the turtle, frog, salamander — in short, 
of all the slow but long moving reptiles, equally 
corresponds with the permanence of their volun- 
tary power. 

It is, then, from Cuvier's not distinguishing be- 
tween the height and the breadth of the organs, 
and their corresponding intensity or permanence of 
function, that his comparison of man and the bull, 
and his scale in general, is of diminished value, 
and quite inapplicable to the present question/* 

While some physiologists have borrowed the 

ber of the plates is analogous to the length of a pump for 
raising water ; and the size of the plates is analogous to the 
magnitude of the bore of the pump. 

* There are, I may now add, other sources of error in such 
more minute or limited comparisons, arising from this, that, 
both in the cerebrum and the cerebellum, certain parts, exist- 
ing in very different proportion in different animals, appear 
to be subservient to the sensations and motions of the vital 
system. 



38 THE HEAD IN PARTICULAR, 

preceding doctrine without acknowledgement, Dr. 
Flemming, in his Philosophy of Natural History, 
has subjected it to liberal criticism. 

" According to Mr. Walker," he says, u the 
cerebrum is the organ of sensation [no, not of sen- 
sation, but of united sensations or perception], or 
the centre to which all the impressions are commu- 
nicated [certainly, and where they form perception], 
and in which deliberation is practised, while the 
cerebellum is the organ of volition. The nerves 
which terminate in the cerebrum, and the anterior 
columns of the spinal marrow, convey impressions 
to the mind ; and the nerves which arise from the 
cerebellum and the posterior columns of the spinal 
marrow, execute the purposes of volition." 

"As we descend towards fishes, the cerebrum 
diminishes so much in size, that its total absence 
may be inferred in the lower classes. Observation 
confirms the supposition. It can scarcely be de- 
tected in the mollusca, and it is wanting in the 
annulosa. Now, if these opinions with regard to 
the uses of the cerebrum and its different parts 
were correct, we ought to find in the animals which 



THE SUBJECT OF PHYSIOGNOMY. 37 

are destitute of the organ a total want of the func- 
tions which it is destined to perform ; for we can 
scarcely suppose, that any of the other organs of 
the body can supply its place. But still we find, 
among insects, for example, not merely sensation 
and volition, but instincts, propensities, and deli- 
beration which, when they occur in the higher 
classes, are considered worthy of having peculiar 
organs set apart for their production. " 

Now, here, Dr. Flemming has failed to observe 
that, to animals wanting a cerebrum, I do not deny 
sensation, for that is the function of the organs of 
sense ! and as to volition, they ought assuredly to 
possess it, since they possess its organ, as in the 
next paragraph Dr. Flemming allows ! 

66 But the cerebellum still exists in these mollus- 
ca and annulosa ; and may, therefore, be consi- 
dered as exercising the functions of sensation and 
volition. [It is not necessary it should exercise 
the former ! ] Let us descend, therefore, to the in- 
habitants of the Corals or to the Hydra : in these, 
neither brain nor nerves can be perceived. Yet 
they evidently possess both sensation and voli- 



38 THE HEAD IN PARTICULAR, 

tion, and as evidently want a cerebrum and cere- 
bellum. 55 

The same oversight is committed here as to sen- 
sation ! the surface of these animals is evidently 
their organ of touch. That, however, which in them 
Dr. Flemming calls volition, is evidently of the 
most imperfect kind, if it all deserve the name : 
without either central portion or nervous con- 
nexion, it is certainly, like their sensation, confined 
to the mere particles composing them : as their sen- 
sation cannot become perception, so neither should 
such motion be denominated volition. They have 
accordingly little or no locomotive power! To 
palpable volition, inducing palpable locomotion, a 
cerebellum appears to be indispensable. 

The preceding doctrine, therefore, conforms to 
Cuvier's observation, that " on comparing together 
all the nervous systems, we find only one common 
part which is a single tubercle, situated at the an- 
terior extremity of the system, and always produc- 
ing two lateral and transverse fasciculi or crura 
which unite it to the rest of the system. — This 



THE SUBJECT OF PHYSIOGNOMY. 39 

part appears always to correspond to that named 
cerebellum in man. 

Man, it must be now observed, has the greatest 
cerebrum, compared with his cerebellum ; and he 
has likewise, most intellect, though not most of 
locomotion. 

The proportion of the brain, therefore, to the 
medulla oblongata, or to the rest of the nervous 
system, is not, as asserted by Sommerring, an ex- 
act criterion of the degree of intelligence an animal 
enjoys, because it is not, as he supposed, the index 
of the pre-eminence, which the organ of reflection 
preserves over those of the external senses, but the 
index of the superiority possessed at once by reflec- 
tion and volition ; and, as it indicates not the 
degrees in which these are combined, it serves only 
to mislead. — The comparison also between the 
cerebrum and cerebellum shows merely the pro- 
portion of intelligence to locomotion — a circum- 
stance which anatomists failed to observe, from 
their not understanding the use of the last men- 
tioned organ. Hence, arise the exceptions which, 



40 THE HEAD IN PARTICULAR; 

as already shewn, subvert the rules afforded by 
both these modes of comparison. 

Thus, then, are determined the seats of the 
three great intellectual functions ; and we know 
that their energy in perfect health must precisely 
correspond with the developement of their organs. 
Now, that developement may vary as to each of 
them ; and hence must arise not one but three 
criteria of the intellectual faculties. 

*The criterion, then, first of intelligence, is afford- 
ed by the proportionally greater magnitude of the 
cerebrum compared to the face and cerebellum; 
the criterion of sense or sensation is afforded by 
the proportionally greater magnitude of the face, 
or more properly, of the organs of sense compared 
to the cerebrum and cerebellum ; and the criterion 
of volition or of locomotive power is afforded by the 
proportionally greater magnitude of the cerebellum 
compared to the organs of sense and the cere- 
brum. 

From every observation which I have been able 
to make, these criteria appear to be true. Nor is it 



THE SUBJECT OF PHYSIOGNOMY. 41 

possible that any criterion can be correct which 
does not thus involve all the intellectual organs, 
and consider each with relation to its particular 
function. 

Even those criteria, however, which I have pro- 
proposed, though nearly perfect, are not absolutely 
so, because, as already said, the brain involves 
parts on which, not intellect, but vitality de- 
pends. 5 ^ 

The next principle, of great importance in phy- 
siognomy, which I have to establish, has been 
already incidentally mentioned in the Paper quoted 
from Thomson's Annals of Philosophy — namely, 
that on the length of the cerebral organs depends 
the intensity of their function, and on the breadth 
of these organs the permanence of their function. 
This principle, however, w r as first announced else- 
where in somewhat different terms. 

In a treatise on the Influence of Climate by Dr. 
Pitta, published at Edinburgh in 1812, he observes, 

* A comparison of it with the medulla oblongata, as pro- 
posed by Sommerring and Ebel, does not correct this error. 



jt2 THE HEAD IN PARTICULAR, 

that u wherever the intellectual organs are eleva- 
ted, there their functions are brilliant or intense ; 
wherever they are wide, there they are stabte and 
permanent." — And this doctrine he acknowledges 
to have derived from the present writer. # 

About two years afterwards, previous to replying 
to Dr. Leach, I mentioned the same principle to 
Dr. Spurzheim, in the terms of that reply; and I 
have observed it repeated in one or more of his 
works, with some little variation, and without ac- 
knowledgement. Happily, Dr. Pitta's acknow- 
ledgment in 1812, establishes my priority. 

It may not perhaps be amiss, that I should 
illustrate this principle to the reader, as I well 
remember doing to that gentleman. 

My first illustration was derived from the well 
known circumstance, that, in galvanism, a long 
battery, consisting of many small plates, acts with 
greater rapidity and intensity (the igniting power 
being as the number) than a broad battery, con- 
sisting of a few large plates, even though these 
should present the same extent of surface ; while 
* See Advertisement prefixed to his work. 



THE SUBJECT OF PHYSIOGNOMY. 43 

on the other hand, the broad battery retains its 
power after the long battery is entirely exhausted. — 
With this illustration, as an analogy apparently, 
the Doctor was struck ; but it did not suggest to 
him the cause. 

My second illustration was derived from suppos- 
ing a pipe transmitting water to be, in one part of 
its extent, of 12 inches diameter, and, in the re- 
mainder, of one inch diameter ; in which case, it 
is evident, the water must pass about 12 times 
quicker through the relatively long and narrow 
than through the relatively broad and short part. — 
This illustration was satisfactory. No additional 
illustration, indeed, seems requisite to the explana- 
tion of this principle. 

I might have added, that, even in inanimate ob- 
jects, breadth gives the appearance of stability and 
permanence, and, in the same objects, length, or— 
where this is employed in a curve which is convex 
upward — height, gives the appearance of lightness 
and elegance. 

As, then, liquids pass, as already observed, with 
greater velocity through the narrow portion of a 



44 THE HEAD IN PARTICULAR, 

tube than through its wider parts, precisely so 
must all nervous action pass between the parieties 
of the organs — the tubes of the neurilema, whether 
that action be performed by fluids, by liquids, or 
by globules as shown by Prochaska and others. 
x4nd, as also observed already, that the nervous 
matter is thus laterally confined by the neurilema, 
is proved by the circumstance of the ends of nerves 
expanding when cut ; and they are, therefore, in 
so far subject to similar laws with liquids contained 
in tubes. 

I cannot, moreover, better illustrate this principle 
from the classes of animals, than as already done, 
in observing, that the laterally compressed and 
high cerebellum of birds corresponds admirably 
with the intensity of their voluntary powers, and 
the depressed and flat cerebellum of the turtle, 
frog, salamander — in short, of all the slow but 
long moving reptiles, equally corresponds with the 
permanence of their voluntary power. 

From the mechanical and chemical illustrations 
which have now been given of this principle, it 
will readily appear, that it results from the funda- 



THE SUBJECT OF PHYSIOGNOMY. 45 

mental nature of things, and is of universal appli- 
cability. Hence, in comparative anatomy, the 
comparatively long and slender muscles of the car- 
nivorous animals, which move by rapid springs ; 
and the comparatively short and broad muscles of 
the herbivorous animals, which move by slow steps. 
[See Plate I.] 



46 



CHAPTER III. 

APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES TO 
ANIMALS IN GENERAL. 

Here, an observation already made in relation to 
the cerebellum is peculiarly applicable. 

As we descend among animals, one of the three 
portions of the nervous system and one of its three 
general functions gradually disappear. Now, it is 
not the first or the last portion of the nervous sys- 
tem — it is not the organs of sense or the cerebel- 
lum, neither is it their respective functions, sensa- 
tion and volition, which are thus lost. It is the 
cerebrum and mental operation which are. 

This organ is, even among men, most conspicu- 
ous in the Caucasian race ; and we accordingly 
find that that race alone has cultivated the sciences. 



APPLICATION TO ANIMALS. 



47 



It is less even in the Mongol and Ethiop who have 
ever disregarded them. It gradually disappears 
and ultimately evanishes as we descend among 
quadrupeds, birds, reptiles, fishes, 8cc, and with 
it gradually disappear and ultimately evanish the 
powers of thought. But organs of sense and a 
cerebellum, sensation and volition, yet remain, 
to characterize myriads of animals below these. 

Having stated this fact, the reader will be able 
to appreciate the doctrine of Camper, which, though 
imperfect, is still of great value. # 

* As of minor importance, I throw into a note a brief ac- 
count of the plan of Daubenton, which is founded on the 
structure of the head and on the relation which it bears to the 
trunk. 

The great hole in the base of the scull has a different situa- 
tion in man from that which it has in animals ; and this situa- 
tion again differs in the various species. These differences 
arise chiefly from the form of the head and the ordinary atti- 
tude of the body. 

As to the form of the head, — in proportion as the brain 
increases, so does the posterior part of the scull, and the great 
hole is thereby further removed from the back of the head 
towards the middle of its base, where it obtains a more hori- 
zontal direction. 

As to the attitude of the body, — the head and neck of man 
being directed vertically, the former is placed in a state of 



48 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

The plan of Camper is so general as to involve 

all the superior orders of animals as well as man; 

and, in that extent, we shall examine it. 

equilibrium on the spine, in order to maintain it the more 
firmly on its point of support, and to facilitate its motions. 

Thus the great hole, by the edges of which the head is con- 
nected to the spine, is in man placed nearly in the centre of 
the base of the scull, and is very little more distant from the 
front of the jaws than from the posterior extremity of the back 
of the head. 

This position of the opening, which places the head in a 
state of equilibrium upon the neck, and, in the natural erect 
posture, brings the face forward, would, if man .went on four 
feet, prevent him from elevating his head sufficiently to see 
before him, because the motion of the head would be stopped 
by the projection of the occiput meeting the vertebrae or bones 
forming the spine of the neck. 

In most animals, the jaws are considerably elongated ; the 
great hole is placed at the back of the head ; and the occiput 
forms no projection beyond this opening, the level of which is 
in a vertical line, or at most very slightly inclined. Hence, 
the head is connected to the neck by its back part, instead of 
the middle of its basis, as in man ; and, instead of being in 
equilibrium, it hangs to the front of the neck. 

This structure, combined with a greater length of neck, be- 
stows on quadrupeds the power of using their jaws for seizing 
what is before them ; of elevating them, to reach what may- 
be above the head, although the body is placed horizontally ; 
and of touching the ground with the mouth, by depressing 
the head and neck to the level of the feet. The latter motion 
could not be performed by man, even if he were in the atti- 



TO ANIMALS IN GENERAL. 



49 



The cranium, then, being placed laterally, two 
imaginary lines are drawn on its surface to inter- 
sect each other at a particular point. 

tude of a quadruped, for if he lowered the head to the ground, 
he would touch it only with the forehead or crown. 

In several animals, there is some distance between the great 
hole of the scull and the posterior extremity of the head, 
though this interval is ne?er so considerable as in man ; and, 
in proportion as it is increased, does the direction of the hole 
approach more to the horizontal one. 

Animals of the monkey kind approach more nearly than 
others to man, in the position and direction of this hole. In 
the orang-outang, however, it is twice as far from the jaws as 
from the back of the head, and it is considerably inclined 
downward, so that a line drawn in its level passes below the 
lower jaw, instead of going, as in man, just under the orbit. 

The difference, then, in the direction of the hole, may be 
determined by noting the angle formed by the union of a line 
drawn according to the direction of the opening, with another 
line passing from the posterior edge of the great hole to the 
inferior margin of the orbit. — This constitutes the method of 
Daubenton. 

This angle is of 3° in man, and 37° in the orang-outang. — 
The length of the jaws in this animal must exceed that of the 
human subject in the same proportion : the lower jaw is one 
fourth of the length of the trunk and head, taken from the 
crown to the lower part of the body ; while in man it is only 
one seventh. 

The occipital angle is of 47° in the lemur ; it is still greater 
in the dog ; and in the horse it is 90° or a right angle, the 
position of the opening being completely vertical. 

D 



50 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

The first line proceeds horizontally through the 
external aperture of the ear or meatus auditorius 
externus, and the floor of the nostrils. 

The other, or the proper facial line, is continued 
from the most prominent portion of the forehead, 
above the nose, to the front of the lower, or alveo 
var margin of the upper jaw bone. [See Plates 
II. and III.] 

From the angle formed at the junction of these 
two lines, this anatomist conceived, that we might 

In further illustration of this method, it may be observed 
that the great hole which, in human sculls, is found in the 
base, proceeds backward as we descend among animals, till, 
in serpents and fishes, we find it at that part of the head 
which is opposite to the mouth. In short, it recedes more 
and more backward to one extremity of the head, as a line 
following the direction of the vertebral column and continued 
through the great hole till it fall on some bone of the calva- 
rium, comes more and more forward toward the other. 

It is evident, I may now observe, that this method is less 
applicable to the living head than to the scull, and that it is, 
therefore, of little practical value. 

The still older plan of Albert Durer, who used a frontal, 
nasal, and maxillary line, is still less worthy of notice than 
that of Daubenton, which has thus been sketched, and much 
less so than that of Camper. 



TO ANIMALS IN GENERAL. 51 

estimate the differences of the cranium in animals, 
as well as in the various races of mankind. 

A very striking difference between man and all 
other animals really does consist in the relative 
proportions of the calvarium or upper part of the 
cranium, and the face; and these are often indi- 
cated by the direction of the facial line. 

The two organs which occupy most of the face* 
are those of smelling and tasting; and in propor- 
tion as those parts are more developed, the size of 
the face is encreased in proportion to that of the 
calvarium. On the contrary, when the brain is 
large, the size of the calvarium is encreased in pro- 
portion to that of the face. 

A large calvarium and small face indicate, there- 
fore, a large brain with inconsiderable organs of 
smelling, tasting, masticating, &c. : while a small 
calvarium and large face show that these pro- 
portions are reversed. 

Now, the nature and character of each animal 
must depend in a great measure on the relative 
energy of its different functions : it is, in fact, re- 
gulated by its most powerful sensations. We meet 

d2 



52 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

with examples of this daily in the human species ; 
but the differences, which can be observed, between 
one man and another, in this respect, must be 
much less than those which occur between ani- 
mals of a different species. 

The brain, then, is the common centre of the 
nervous system : all our sensations are conveyed 
to this part, which therefore is a sensorium com- 
mune, and the organ by which the mind combines 
and compares these perceptions, and draws infer- 
ences from them — by which, in short, it reflects 
and thinks. 

We shall accordingly find, that animals partake 
in a greater degree of this faculty, generally speak- 
ing, in proportion as the mass of medullary sub- 
stance, forming their brain, exceeds that which 
constitutes the rest of the nervous system. 

Since, then, the relative proportions of the cal- 
varium and face indicate also those of the brain, 
and the two principal external organs — those or- 
gans under the influence of which animals are 
most completely placed, it is evident that they 
must point out to us, in a great measure, the ge- 



TO ANIMALS IN GENERAL. 53 

neral character of animals, and the degree of in- 
stinct, as it is termed, and docility which they 
possess. 

Man combines by far the largest calvarium with 
the smallest face ; and animals encrease in stupi- 
dity and ferocity, in proportion as they deviate 
from these relations. 

One of the most simple methods, then, (though 
sometimes insufficient) of expressing the relative 
proportions of these parts, is the facial line already 
described. In man only, is the face placed per- 
pendicularly under the front of the calvarium ; so 
that the facial line is, in him, perpendicular. Hence, 
the upper and inner angle formed between this line 
and the horizontal one, which passes through the 
nose and meatus auditorius, is, in him, most open, 
or approaches most nearly to a right angle. [See 
Plate II.] 

The face of animals is placed in front of the cal- 
varium, instead of under it ; and that cavity is so 
diminished in size, that its anterior expanded por- 
tion or forehead is soon lost, as we recede from 
man. Hence, the facial line is oblique, and the 



54 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

facial or upper and inner angle is acute; it be- 
comes more and more so as we descend in the 
scale from man ; and in several birds, and in most 
reptiles and fishes, it is nearly or completely lost, 
as the calvarium and face approach a level, or form 
parts of one horizontal plane. [See Plate III.] 

The idea of stupidity is associated, even by the 
vulgar, with the elongation of the snout, which 
necessarily lowers the facial line, or renders it more 
oblique : hence, the crane and snipe have become 
proverbial. 

On the contrary, when the facial line is elevated 
by any cause, which does not increase the capacity 
of the calvarium, as it is in the elephant and owl, 
by the cells which separate the two tables or bony 
layers of the scull, the animal acquires a particu- 
lar air of intelligence, and gains the credit of 
qualities which it does not in reality possess. 

The invaluable remains of Grecian art shew, 
that the ancients were well acquainted with these 
circumstances : they were aware that an elevated 
facial line formed one of the grand characters of 
beauty, and indicated a noble and generous nature, 



/// 



\ 



TO ANIMALS IN GENERAL, 55 

Hence, they extended the upper and inner or facial 
angle to 100 degrees in the representation of their 
gods and heroes, and they carried it to 90° or a 
right angle even in the heads of men on whom 
they wished to bestow an august character. [See 
Plate II ] 

The facial line of the European forms an angle 
of 80° j and that of the Negro, one of 70° [Plate II.] 

Infants have the face shorter, because the pos- 
terior teeth are not developed. Hence, their facial 
line is more straight ; and this is one of the 
causes which render the infant countenance agree- 
able. 

The boundaries of the facial angle, in man, are, 
therefore, 70° and 80°. A smaller angle than the 
former constitutes an approach to the monkey. 
Yet it may be extended beyond the latter, as the 
Greeks have done in their representations of he- 
roes and of gods, rendering that of the former 
sometimes 90°, and that of the latter 100°. Here, 
however, 100° seems to be the ne plus ultra ; be- 
yond which the proportions of the head would ap- 
pear deformed : that angle, according to Camper, 



56 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

constitutes the most beautiful countenance, and 
hence he supposes the Greeks adopted it. 

They also observed, that the relative size of the 
head, and consequently proportional volume of 
brain, are not considerable in tall and very muscular 
subjects. This is easily verified by the examina- 
tion of antique statues : all those which represent 
persons celebrated in fabulous history for prodigious 
power, have a head of small dimensions, when 
compared with the whole mass of the body : in 
the statues of Hercules^ it is hardly equal to the 
top of the shoulder. 

The objections which may be urged against this 
method of Camper are numerous. 

To his facial line, it may be objected. 

L That large frontal sinuses, as in the elephant 
and owl, often prevent its nearly coinciding with 
the cerebral cavity, and indicating the magnitude 
of the brain, the degree of the animal's intelligence, 
and its place in any classification., 

2. In the morse and the greater number of the 
rodentia, the nose occupies so large a space, that 
the cranium is inclined backward, and has none 



TO ANIMALS IN GENERAL. 57 

of its sides free anteriorly, so that it is difficult to 
know where to apply the facial line, 

3. The cetacea have a calvarium elevated in a 
pyramidal form, above a face greatly prolonged, 
but flattened in the horizontal direction ; so that 
the inclination of their facial line is greater than it 
ought to be, in order to indicate the real magni- 
tude of their face. 

4. When this line is applied to birds, it is 
obvious that, in those which have the upper man- 
dible very moveable, it will be more or less inclined, 
according to the state of that mandible ; the facial 
angle will be least when the mandible is raised in 
opening the mouth ; but the capacity of the brain 
and the degree of intelligence will surely not be 
less when the mouth is open than when shut. 

To his horizontal line, it may be objected. 

1. That the want of the meatus auditorius ex- 
ternus in young animals, and its varying directions 
in different ones, would cause this line to pass 
from parts of the head which have no correspon- 
dence in situation. 

2. That the point also, to which this line is 

d 5 



58 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

drawn, varies greatly as to position. In man and 
quadrupeds, it is found near the maxillary curve. 
In birds, it is sometimes at one extremity of the 
maxilla, sometimes at the other, and sometimes in 
the middle. In cetaceous animals, the spiracula 
or breathing holes run obliquely, from the base to- 
wards the corona, and terminate in the face near 
the glabellar part of the cranium. The angle 
formed by the facial and the horizontal line, in 
such cases, would, in some instances, be larger 
than in man. 

Blumenbach's conclusion, however, that, from 
the direction of the facial line, viewed laterally, 
not much is to be deduced, is an egregious error. 

If the rule be applied merely to the discrimina- 
tion of national crania, there is much truth in his 
observation — it does not answer the purpose of 
distinguishing the varieties of the human race ; 
but, when applied to animals in general, as indicat- 
ing some of their intellectual faculties, it acquires 
considerable interest, and when used to discover 
the finer forms of the head, and as a guide to 
taste in the arts, it is of great value. 



TO ANIMALS IN GENERAL. 



59 



In fine, says Blumenbach, Camper himself, in 
the plates subjoined to his work, has so arbitrarily 
and inconstantly used his two normal lines — so 
often varies the points of contact according to 
which he directs these lines, and upon which all 
their power and justness depends, that he tacitly 
confesses himself uncertain and hesitating in the 
use of them. 

Still, as already stated, the rule of Camper ap- 
plies better to the genera of animals in general, 
than to the varieties of the human species. # 

* As of minor importance, I throw into a note Cuvier's 
mode of applying the principle of Camper. 

We may, says Cuvier, discover more important relations 
in considering the calvarium and the face under the vertical 
and longitudinal section of the head. 

With respect to their relative proportions, the calvarium, in 
this section, occupies an area sometimes greater, sometimes 
less, and sometimes nearly equal to that of the face. 

In the European, the area of the section of the calvarium 
is almost four times greater than that of the face, the lowei 
jaw not included. 

In the Negro, the calvarium remaining the same, the area of 
the section of the face is increased about one-fifth, In the 
Calmuc, it increases only one-tenth. 

The proportion is less in the orang-outang. In the Sapajous, 
the area of the face is almost one-half of the calvarium. It is 



60 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

We have thus seen, that the facial angle of 
Camper is, with respect to the brain, most impor- 
tant in the human species and the quadrumana, 
because they alone have very small frontal sinuses, 
which do not elevate the facial line in a sensible 

nearly equal in the mandrills, and in most of the carnivora, 
except in the varieties of short-nosed dogs, as the pug, which 
have the face somewhat smaller in proportion to the calva- 
rium. The rodentia, the hare, and the marmotte, have it 
one-third larger. It is more than double in the porcupine. 
It is nearly double in the ruminantia; a little more than 
double in hogs ; nearly triple in the hippopotamus ; and 
almost quadruple in the horse. 

The outline of the face when viewed in such a section as 
we have just mentioned, forms, in man, a triangle, the longest 
side of which is the line of junction between the calvarium 
and face. This extends obliquely backward and downward 
from the root of the nose toward the great hole of the scull. 
The front of the face, or the anterior side of the triangle, is the 
shortest of the three. 

The face is so much elongated, even in the monkey, that 
the line of junction of the calvarium and face is the shortest 
side of the triangle, and the anterior one is the longest. These 
proportions become still more considerable in the other 
mammalia. 

The morse and the elephant have a large face, in conse- 
quence of the height of the alveoli ; but it cannot in them, be 
considered as augmenting the extent of the organs of sense. 

This method is applicable only to the scull, and therefore 
of little practical value. 



TO ANIMALS IN GENERAL. 61 

degree, and because in them the nose falls under 
that line. It will in the sequel appear, that, even- 
when applied to them, this angle is of the less 
value, that it affords no mode of distinguishing the 
capacity of the cerebrum from that of the cerebel- 
lum. 

Yet as minerals exist, and are arranged from 
mere structure, — as plants exist and live, and are 
arranged from vital organs, their cotyledons or 
their flowers, — and as animals exist, live, and 
think,— they ought, in conformity with the pre- 
ceding classes, to be arranged from mental or- 
gans. 

As plants are arranged according to those organs 
which they possess in addition to minerals, viz. 
their vital organs, so, if consistently with this, 
animals were arranged according to those organs 
which they possess in addition to plants, viz. their 
mental organs, they would at once be distinguished 
from each other, and have indicated their most re- 
markable characteristic, and their rank in the 
scale of being. 

Nor would this be difficult : the various capaci- 



62 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES, ETC. 

ties of the cranium alone would afford its basis for 
all the higher animals. Such a method would not 
merely present some general differences among 
animals, but would afford the most accurate dis- 
tinctions even between their varieties, and it would 
then exhibit not only physical but mental character. 

The value of the method may be appreciated 
from the application made of it to the varieties of 
the human race in the following part of the work. 



63 



CHAPTER IV. 

APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES TO THE 
SEXES. 

With regard to the different character of male 
and female crania, I have observed, that, when 
the cavity of the male and female cranium is of 
equal length, the portion before the cavity of the 
pituitary gland, which is always nearly in the mid- 
dle of that basis, is longer in the male than in the 
female ; while that behind it, is longer in the fe- 
male than in the male. 

In the anterior part of the cavity, thus longer in 
the male than female, are lodged those medullary 
fasiculi through which impressions ascend to the 
common sensorium; and, in the posterior, thus 



64 APPLICATION OF THESE 

longer in the female than male, those through 
which they descend.* 

Now, as nervous action must take place more 
rapidly and intensely through the compressed and 
narrow cerebrum — more slowly and permanently 
through the broad or wider one, — it is probable, that 
the ascending impressions are stronger in the male 
— the descending, in the female ; and, in perfect 
conformity with this, we find that more numerous 
and stronger impressions in the male, more rarely 
and weakly excite emotions and passions ; whereas 
fewer and slighter impressions in the female, more 
frequently and more strongly excite them. 

As the male cranium is widest posteriorly, even 
in cavities of equal length, the rarer and weaker 
emotions and passions of the male are, consistently 
with the preceding doctrine, more permanent than 
those of the female. 

The female calvarium seems in general also nar- 

* See the report of the committee of the National Institute 
of France, on Gall and Spurzheim's paper on the brain, with 
critical observations, in the Archives of Universal Science, for 
July, 1809. 



PRINCIPLES TO THE SEXES. 65 

rower than that of the male ; and hence, all her 
mental operations, though more intense and bril- 
liant during their continuance, have, on the same 
principles, less of permanence. 

With regard to the heads of females, it may 
also be observed, that the frontal sinuses are less, 
the glabella less elevated, and the superciliary- 
ridges on which the eyebrows rest less prominent ; 
that the alveolar outline of the upper and lower 
jaws is more elliptical; that the teeth are less; 
and that the ossa linqualia, os hyoides, or bone of 
the tongue is smaller, 



66 



CHAPTER V. 

APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES TO THE 
VARIETIES OF THE HUMAN SPECIES. 



Endeavouring to apply his principles to the 
varieties of the human species in particular, Camper 
says, it would be impracticable to delineate all the 
characteristic varieties that exist in nature. — We 
may therefore 

L Consider the Calmuc as being, with regard to 
the form of his head, the representative of all Asia 
(from Siberia to New Zealand), and also of North 
America ; as it is more than probable that the 
people of that country are descended from the 
northern Asiatics. Of this variety, the facial an- 



APPLICATION TO THE VARIETIES, ETC. 67 

gle is, according to Camper, less than that of the 
following one. # 

2. The head of an European may be considered 
as a specimen of all Europe, Turkey, Persia and 
the largest part of Arabia, as far as Indostan. — 
Of this variety, the facial angle is greatest. 

3. The head of an Angolese negro may be sub- 
stituted for all Africa, also for the Hottentots (who 
do not materially differ from the Negroes), for the 
Caffres, and for the natives of Madagascar. — Of 
this variety, the facial angle is least. 

The Moluccans seem to have blended together 
the characteristics of the Asiatic and of the African ; 
and Blumenbach, as will be seen, avails himself 
of this hint to form them into a different va- 
riety .+ 

Now, although the mere use of Camper's facial 
line by no means affords sufficient marks of dis- 

* This assertion has induced Sommerring to say " Calvaria 
Petro Campero calvaria Calmucci visa ab eodemque delineata 
et descripta, calvaria potius Nigrittae videtur." 

f Camper, in his Dissert, sur les Variet. Nat. de Physion. 
des Hommes, etc. p. 16 et 17, Paris, 1792, 4to, mentions not 
only this variety, but also the American. 



86 APPLICATION TO THE VARIETIES 

tinction, his division is remarkable for its simplicity 
and correctness. 

Such, then, is the arrangement of Camper. But 
it may not be improper to subjoin the criticisms 
which Blumenbach has made respecting it. 

With regard to the inapplicability of the facial 
line to these varieties, Blumenbach objects, that 
this rule labours under more than one fault. 

1. This facial line does not accurately apply, 
except to those varieties of the human race which 
vary from each other, in the direction of the jaws ; 
and by no means to those which, on the contrary, 
are remarkable for a face drawn out laterally. 

2. Very often, in the crania of nations entirely 
different, the facial line possesses the same direc- 
tion ; and, on the contrary, in many crania of the 
same people, which, in general, agree in habit, that 
line is extremely different. 

Thus, says Blumenbach, I possess a couple of 
crania, viz. of a Congo iEthiop and a Lithuanian 
Sarmatian, (Pole) both of which have nearly the 
same facial line, yet their habit is extremely differ- 
ent, if you compare the narrow and, as it were, 



OF THE HUMAN SPECIES. 69 

carinated head of the iEthiop with the more square 
one of the Sarmatian. — On the contrary, however, 
I have other two crania of iEthiops possessing a fa- 
cial line wonderfully differing from each other, but 
both, if viewed from before, having the narrow and 
compressed skull, the arched forehead, &c. testify- 
ing their JEthiopic original. 

The rule of Camper, therefore, will not answer 
the purpose of distinguishing the varieties of the 
human race. Nevertheless, his division of these 
varieties into three is excellent. 

Blumenbach says, that the national varieties of 
the face, although liable to particular exceptions, 
are naturally reducible to five, which may be con- 
sidered as the heads or sources of the other less 
important varieties. 

There exists, in the first place, a kind of symme- 
trical countenance, constituting, as it were, the 
middle one, which, by degenerating, passes into 
two extremes very different from itself, of which 
one exhibits the face drawn out laterally, the other 
stretched out inferiorly. 

Thus far Blumenbach follows Camper. 



70 APPLICATION TO THE VARIETIES 

Each of these last, however, again includes two 
different varieties, very distinguishable from each 
other when viewed in profile. One of these varie- 
ties has the nose and other parts less distinct, and, 
as it were, confluent. The other exhibits the same 
parts more deeply excavated, and angularly pro- 
jecting. 

These make, besides the first middle one, four 
other varieties. 

As the bones accommodate themselves to the 
neighbouring parts, and, in some measure, receive 
form from their action, there is an intimate rela- 
tion between the external face and the osseous 
structure on which it is formed. 

From examining, therefore, the crania of differ- 
ent nations, much additional light is thrown on 
the study of the varieties of the human race, be- 
cause they exhibit the firm and stable foundation 
of the head deprived of soft and less constant 
parts, and may be conveniently handled and ex- 
amined, considered under different aspects, and 
compared with each other. 

All the diversities, then, of the osseous head of 



OF THE HUMAN SPECIES. 71 

different nations, according to Blumenbach, are, 
like those of national countenance, reducible to five 
principal varieties. 

In distinguishing the characters of different cra- 
nia, such a view is preferred as offers, at one glance, 
the most numerous and important points, and those 
especially which contribute to the comparison of 
national characteristics. Blumenbach has, accord- 
ingly, found that view to be the best adapted to this 
purpose, in which, from behind the vertex, we ob- 
serve crania having their cheek-bones placed in the 
same horizontal line, arranged in a series. In this 
view, whatever most contributes to the national 
character of skulls, whether the direction of the 
jaws or of the cheek bones, the breadth or narrow- 
ness of the calvarium, the smoothness or tuberosity 
of the forehead, &c. at one glance, so distinctly 
strikes the eye, that he calls that aspect the Ver- 
tical Rule. 

This rule is exhibited in the figures of Plate IV, 
where three heads are represented in this point of 
view. The second of the three (fig. 2), distinguished 
by the symmetry and beauty of all its parts, is that of 



72 APPLICATION TO THE VARIETIES 

a Georgian female. The other two are examples of 
heads differing from this in the opposite extremes. 
That which is expanded laterally, and flattened in 
front (fig. I.), is the cranium of a Tungoose from 
the north-east of Asia. That which is elongated in 
front (fig. 3),- is the head of a Negress, from the 
coast of Guinea. The margin of the orbits and 
the zygoma are elegantly contracted in the Geor- 
gian ; and the jaws are hidden by the periphery of 
the moderately expanded forehead. In the Tun- 
goose, the ossa malarum, ossa nasi and glabella, 
are situate on the same horizontal level, and are 
enormously expanded on either side. In the iEthi- 
opian, on the contrary, the maxillary bones are 
compressed laterally, and project in front. 

There are, then, according to Blumenbach, five 
principal varietiesof the human race, but merely one 
species ; and the innumerable less varieties of ^this 
species mingle together by insensible gradations. 

These varieties are the Caucasian, the Mongo- 
jic, the JEthiopic, the American, and the Malaiac, 
equally capable of being defined and distinguished 
from each other. [See Plate V.J 



r 




BJL VM E K BAOfl OUR H E 1 

TMH&slearfcy Sain'-EbJEldeT Sc C 



OF THE HUMAN SPECIES. 73 

The Caucasian, of symmetrical countenance. 
Blumenbach places first ; as to be considered the 
primitive one. 

This passes, on each side, into two very remote 
and different extremes ; on this, namely, into the 
Mongolic, of which the countenance is broad ; on 
that, into the iEthiopic,* of which the counten- 
ance is narrow. 

Other two hold middle places between that pri- 
mitive one and these two extreme varieties \ namely, 
the American, having the countenance moderately 
broad, between the Caucasian and Mongolic; and 
the Malaiac, having the countenance moderately 
narrow, between the Caucasian and iEthiopic. 

In the explanation of the characters of these, 
Blumenbach cautions us ; first, that, on account of 
the multifarious diversity of characters, by various 
gradations, it is not this or that detached one 
which will suffice, but that many, considered to- 
gether, are necessary; and secondly, that not 

* These three varieties are precisely correspondent to those 
first proposed by Camper, and may perhaps be sufficient 
without the following ones. 

E 



74 APPLICATION TO THE VARIETIES 

even this complex character is so constant as not 
to be liable to innumerable exceptions in all and 
each of these varieties. Nevertheless, this is to 
be so understood, that it may in general permit 
a sufficiently simple and perspicuous notion of 
them. 

These more particular characters will be detailed 
in the sequel. 

In arranging his varieties, Blumenbach would, 
perhaps, have done well to place the Mongolic first, 
the American next, the Caucasian in the middle, 
then the Malaiac, and lastly the JEthiopic. 

To the principles, however, of the theory of Blu- 
menbach, I have not one objection to urge, but 
that they are imperfect, and consequently insuffi- 
cient for the decided establishment of his system. 
So far as they go, however, they are very valuable. 

The methods, then, of Albert Durer, Dauben- 
ton, Camper and Blumenbach present successive 
improvements, yet all of them appear to me defec- 
tive, because not only do they fail in clearly ex- 
hibiting many of the more important relations be- 
tween the calvarium and face, but they do not at 



OF THE HUMAN SPECIES. 75 

all permit us to ascertain those which subsist be- 
tween the cerebral and cerebellic cavities, or between 
each of these and the face ; and as each of them 
contains an intellectual organ totally distinct in its 
functions, it is evident that, if the relations between 
the two cavities, and between each and the face, be 
neglected, then the relations between the intellec- 
tual functions which they perform, or the relative 
degree of each function, must likewise be lost. 

Thus, though, by these methods, the varieties of 
the human species may be indicated with tolerable 
success, yet the most valuable conclusion to be 
drawn from their physical form — a criterion of 
their degrees of intelligence, cannot by these 
means, be obtained. 

The three criteria, however, of sense, intellect, 
and voluntary motion which I have already de- 
scribed, are strictly and beautifully applicable to 
the varieties of the human species. 

The area of the cerebral cavity of the European 
scull is uniformly greatest, compared to the area of 
the face and of the cerebellic cavity; while iEthiopic 

e 2 



76 APPLICATION TO THE VARIETIES 

and Mongolia crania, without differing in general 
relative magnitude (for what the Mongolic has in 
breadth, the ZEthiopic has in length), seem strik- 
ingly to differ in this, that the area of the face is 
actually greatest in the iEthiop, compared to the 
area of the cerebral and of the cerebellic cavity, 
while the cerebellic cavity is actually greatest in 
the Mongol, compared to the area of the face and 
of the cerebral cavity. 

Thus, the iEthiop, having proportionally the 
largest organs of sense, ought to have the strong- 
est sensation ; the European, having proportionally 
the largest cerebrum, ought to have the greatest 
intellect; and the Mongol, having proportionally 
the largest cerebellum, ought to have the greatest 
volition. 

All this is confirmed by the habits of these vari- 
eties; for, while the northern people have the dull- 
est sensations, they are the most active on the 
earth ; and while the Negroes have the acutest 
sensation, they are the most indolent. 

It remains only to explain the difference in intel- 



OF THE HUMAN SPECIES. 77 

lect between the Mongol and iEthiop, since, while 
their cerebral cavities are, upon the whole, of equal 
magnitude, that of the Mongol is broad, and that 
of the iEthiop long. 

Now, it has, in enunciating that principle of this 
work which is next in importance to the pre- 
ceding, been shown, that the permanence of func- 
tions is as the breadth of organs, and the intensity 
of functions as the length of organs ; and it is at 
the same time known, that the Mongolic and 
iEthiopic races are correspondingly distinguished. 

I propose the arrangement of the human race 
into three varieties, founded at once upon physi- 
cal form and moral habit — the physical form of 
three different organs, namely, those of sense, the 
cerebrum, and the cerebellum ; and the consequent 
energy of the sensitive, perceptive, and voluntary 
powers, exercised by these organs. 

That form and this energy, I propose as the 
basis of all such classification, in lieu of the merely 
physical, and these, too, insulated bases of Cam- 
per, Blumenbach and others ; and whether it lead 



78 APPLICATION TO THE VARIETIES 

to the adoption of three, or five, or any greater num- 
ber of varieties, is immaterial. Thejiature of the 
basis is that for which alone I contend. It more- 
over, not only affords a scientific and natural clas- 
sification of the human race, but presents the prin- 
ciples of a natural, simple and impressive system of 
national physiognomy. 

It is here proper to explain, why, though we 
were to arrive at the same conclusion, with either 
Camper or Blumenbach, as to the number of these 
varieties, it is, nevertheless, necessary to reject 
their bases or principles, to form new ones, and to 
draw an independent conclusion. 

The fact is, that the bases or principles of clas- 
sification, delivered by these physiologists, are 
imperfect and erroneous, even physically consi- 
dered. The relative magnitude of the cerebellum 
is utterly neglected by Camper ; and the relative 
magnitude, neither of the organs of sense nor of 
the cerebellum, can be correctly ascertained by the 
Vertical Rule of Blumenbach. 

If, then, by the principles of the one, a third of 



OF THE HUMAN SPECIES. 79 

the intellectual organs — those of sense, are ex- 
cluded, and by those of the other, two thirds, — 
both organs of sense and cerebellum, are placed 
nearly in the same situation, it incontestably follows, 
that the principles adopted by both are defective, 
and that the conclusions drawn from them must be 
erroneous, even in a physical point of view. 

Now, as we have succeeded in showing, not 
only that one or other of the three great intellec- 
tual organs, but also that one or other of their 
functions, excels, respectively, in the Mongol, the 
European, or the iEthiop, it irresistibly follows, 
that Camper and Blumenbach have neglected moral 
or mental principles, as well as physical ones, and 
of no less importance than they. 

Thus, the classification here established differs 
from theirs, both as to physical character and 
moral result; and it is attended with advantages of 
which they had no conception. 

It is here only necessary further to remark, that, 
than this difference of the physical character of the 
head, and the powers of the mind dependent upon 



80 APPLICATION TO THE VARIETIES 

it, no nobler basis could be adopted for the ar- 
rangement of the greater part of Natural History.* 

* CHARACTERS OF THE MONGOUC VARIETY. 

Physical Character. 
The organs of sense — small. 
The cerebrum — broad, but flat. 
The cerebellum — large. 
Proofs of this character.* 
Organs of sense. 
In the Negro, the cranium remaining the same, the area of 
the section of face is, according to Cuvier, increased about 
one-fifth, while, in that of the Calmuc, it increases only one- 
tenth : in northern nations, the face is, therefore, compara- 
tively small. 

" The nearer the Tartars are to the pole," says Smith, " the 
smaller are their eyes, and the shorter their noses." 

Blumenbach says the Mongolic nations have the nose 
small — " Simus et depressus." 

The orbits of Russians are, according to Sommerring and 
others, contracted ; the teeth are small ; and the horizontal 
part of the palate-bone narrow. 

Cerebrum. 

The cerebral cavity of northern nations is, according to 
Professor Camper's observations, f broader, but less elevated, 
than that of the iEthiopic ones. 

The vertex or crown of the Calmuc cranium, according to 
Blumenbach, also is depressed. 

* These facts are chiefly selected from authors who have had no 
particular theory in view, and who, in stating them, are therefore, 
the more unlikely to have been misled by any improper bias. 

t Unpublished Commentaries on Osteology. 



OF THE HUMAN SPECIES. 



81 



It is contrary to sound philosophy, which, with- 
out necessity, never assigns different causes for 
similar events, to have recourse, for explaining these 
varieties, to the hypothesis of several original spe- 

So also, according to the same anthropologist, is even the 
American, belonging to his next variety. 

Cerebellum. 

The cerebellic cavity of those people is large. Blumenbach 
describes the occiput of a Tungoose as " mirum in modum 
retro eminens, ita ut protuberantiae occipitalis externa? dis- 
tantia a dentibus incisoribus superioribus 9 pollices Lond. 
sequaret." 

To the Esquimaux, he assigns also a protuberant occiput. 
Moral character. 
Sensibility — small. 

Observation — permanent, but not intense. 
Volition — powerful. 

Proofs of this character. 

Cold, by preventing the moisture of perspiration, and by 
corrugating the skin so as to cover the extremities of the cu- 
taneous nerves, blunts the sense of feeling, and tends greatly 
to diminish the sensibility of the system. 

" In cold countries," says Montesquieu, " they have very 
little sensibility for pleasure : in temperate countries, they have 
more : in warm countries, their sensibility is exquisite. As 
climates are distinguished by degrees of latitude, we might 
distinguish them also, in some measure, by degrees of sensi- 
bility. I have seen the operas of England and of Italy ; they 
are the same pieces and the same performers ; and yet the 
same music produces such different effects on the two nations, 

E 5 



82 APPLICATION TO THE VARIETIES 



cies; and an attachment to such a doctrine, simply 
because it opposes a tenet of religion, is unphiloso- 
phical in the extreme. 

one is cold and indifferent, and the other so transported, that 
it seems almost inconceivable."* 

This diminished sensibility accords with the less develop- 
ment of the organs in these people. 

Though the natives of cold climates are less readily affected 
than southern nations, their impressions are more permanent. 
The impulse must, indeed, be strong to produce any effect ; 
but when the impression is once made, it engrosses more of 
the attention, and is not liable to be effaced by subsequent 
ones. 

The inhabitants of cold countries are more fixed and steady 
in their resolutions than those of hot. 

The diminution of sensibility contributes to make the people 
who live in cold countries less timid. — Slight impressions 
scarcely affect them ; and the motives which would deter an 
inhabitant of a hot country from an enterprise, never reach 
the sensation of one of a cold climate. The disposition of 
the northern nations to despise the fear of death, was re- 
marked by several ancient writers, and particularly by Lucan. 

This greater permanence, though less intensity of mind 

* Gmelin, Lentilius, Linne rapportent, says M. Virey, des Sibe- 
riens, des Courlandais, des Lapons, que les medicamens les plus 
heroiques, les purgatifs drastiques, que seroient meme d'affreux 
poisons pour les meridionaux agissent a peine, sur ces corps d'airain. 
Une piqure legere, au contraire, suffit pour exciter chez les Indiens 
des convulsions universelles. 



OF THE HUMAN SPECIES. 83 

That climate is the cause of most of the pecu- 
liarities of the moral character of nations, has 

than in the natives of southern regions, accords remarkably 
with the greater breadth, though less length or height, of the 
cerebrum in these people. 

Cold climates are averse to indolence, at least of the body, 
and produce a habit of exertion and activity. 

u A cold air/ 7 says Montesquieu, " contracts the fibres, 
and increases their force. On the contrary, a warm air re- 
laxes the fibres, and diminishes their force and elasticity. 

" People are, therefore, more vigorous in cold climates. 
This superiority of strength produces greater self-confidence, 
that is, more courage ; a greater sense of superiority, that is, 
less desire of revenge ; a greater opinion of security, that is? 
more frankness, less suspicion, policy, and cunning/ 7 

Repose and shade are the securities from heat ; fire and 
exercise the remedies of cold : so that the necessities of the 
climate itself contribute to form the character of the people. 

This greater energy of voluntary action perfectly accords 
with the increased development of its organ — the cerebellum, 
in these people. 

In short, all the habits of the Mongolic variety agree with 
the relative magnitudes of the organs of sense, cerebrum and 
cerebellum, and afford the strongest confirmation of the theory 
which has been delivered. 

Nations included in this variety. 

This variety embraces the inhabitants of the eastern and of 
the northern parts of Asia, the Finnish people, Laplanders, &c . 



84 APPLICATION TO THE VARIETIES 



already been repeatedly hinted, in considering the 
character of the Mongolic, Caucasian, and iEthir 
opic varieties. 

of Northern Europe, and the nation of the Esquimaux widely 
diffused over the most northern parts of America, from the 
Strait of Behring to extreme inhabited Greenland.— The Ame- 
ricans should perhaps be here included. — See Plate VI. Fig. 1. 

CHARACTERS OF THE CAUCASIAN VARIETY. 

Physical Character. 
Organs of sense — of moderate size. 
Cerebrum — both broad and elevated. 
Cerebellum — of moderate size. 
Proofs of this Character, 
These are afforded by the account already given of the 
physical character of the Mongolic and that which will be 
given of the physical character of the iEthiopic variety ; for 
all the expressions employed in describing the organs in these 
two extremes, avowedly refer to the Caucasian head as of 
intermediate proportions. 

Moral Character. 
Sensibility — Moderate. 
Observation, &c. — Powerful. 
Volition — Moderate. 
Proofs of this Character. 
The natives of moderate climates possess a middle degree 
of sensibility between those of cold and those of hot ones. 

The temper also of the people of moderate climates is of 
a middle nature, between the fiery passion of the south, and 
the coldness and patience of the north. 



OF THE HUMAN SPECIES. 85 

On a little reflection, it will readily be granted, 
that a cold climate tends at once to blunt sensibility 
and to increase voluntary power, while a hot cli- 

This moderate sensibility perfectly accords with the mode- 
rate development of these organs in this variety. 

Of the intellectual faculties, even Galen has remarked the 
great superiority in the inhabitants of the temperate zone, over 
those both of the torrid and frigid. 

Aristotle also observes, that extremes of temperature are 
unfavourable to the powers of the mind. All history confirms 
its truth. 

The people of moderate climates, though inferior in passive 
courage to those of cold, are, from superiority of intellect, 
more able to take advantage of their success. V egetius re- 
commends the choice of soldiers from temperate climates, 
from their possessing both active courage, and the under- 
standing necessary to improve advantages. 

This superiority of intellect perfectly accords with the great 
capacity of the cerebral cavity in the Caucasian variety. 

The degree of activity of the inhabitants of moderate cli- 
mates, is less than that of the inhabitants of colder climates in 
general, and greater than that of the inhabitants of hot regions. 

This moderate voluntary action perfectly accords with the 
moderate capacity of the cerebellic cavity. 



In short, all the habits of the Caucasian variety agree %vith 
the relative magnitudes of its organs of sense, cerebrum, and 
cerebellum, and likewise afford the strongest confirmation of 
the theory which has been delivered. 



86 APPLICATION TO THE VARIETIES 



mate tends to increase sensibility and to diminish 
voluntary power. Hence, the moral characteristics 
of the Mongol and Ethiop. 

Nations included in this variety. 
The Europeans (except the Laplanders and the rest of the 
Finnish race), the western Asiatics, or those on this side of 
the river Obi, the Caspian sea and the Ganges, and the in- 
habitants of northern Africa — in short, the inhabitants of the 
world as known to the ancients, belong to this variety. See 
Plate VI. Fig. 3. 

CHARACTERS OF THE JETHIOPIC VARIETY. 

Physical Character. 
Organs of Sense — large. 
Cerebrum — long, but narrow. 
Cerebellum - — small. 

Proofs of this Character.* 
Organs of Sense. 
The head of the Negro is, according to Sommerring, larger 
in proportion to his body than that of the European ; but his 
face is larger in proportion to his calvarium. 

The jaw-bones, and the cavities which contribute to form 
and to protect the organs of sense (whether considered abso- 
lutely, or with reference to the rest of the head), are, accord- 
ing to the same anatomist, constructed on a larger scale in the 
Negro. 

* Whenever no name is attached to any of the following state- 
ments, Sommerring is, in general, the author of the observation. 
The facts derived from him are numerous and important. From so 
many facts, it is certainly strange that he himself should have drawn 
no important conclusion. 



OF THE HUMAN SPECIES. 



87 



As the Caucasian inhabits an intermediate tem- 
perature, his mind is but feebly marked by either 

The alveolar processes of the upper jaw are considerably 
protuberant, and form a characteristic trait in the Negro's 
physiognomy. 

The lower jaw, which is broad, thick and less uniform on 
its surface, is shortened at the sides and extremity. The angle 
of the jaw, which in us is generally obtuse, approaches nearer 
to a right angle ; that part of it which is covered by the mas- 
seter, being unusually broad in the Negro, as well as in the 
ape. 

The teeth are generally sound, and compose a very com- 
pact row. They are broad, thick, and long; more especially 
the canine teeth. 

The roof of the Negro's mouth, which is perhaps wider, is 
evidently of greater length, and is sculptured with deeper 
inequalities than that of the European. 

The tongue, as might be .expected from the parieties which 
enclose it, is larger in the Negro than in the European. 

The nostrils are wide. 

When the head is seen in front, the cavity of the nose ap- 
pears uncommonly large. 

The choana, or passage by which the nose and mouth com- 
municate, is of a size equally remarkable with the external 
aperture of the nose. 

That nature intended him to possess a more exquisite sense 
of smell than his European brethren, is evident from the size 
and configuration of the ossa turbinata superiora. 

Haller, and a multitude of other authors and travellers re- 
mark, that Negros in the Antilles, can distinguish, by scent, 
the footstep of a Negro from that of a European. The strong 



88 



APPLICATION TO THE VARIETIES 



of these characteristics, and consequently the inter- 
mediate — the only remaining intellectual function 
— is in him called into the most powerful action. 

cutaneous exhalation of the former, must here be their prin- 
cipal guide.* 

The orbit is, according to Sommering, deeper; the line 
described by its margin is of greater length, and the eye 
itself is probably larger in the Negro than in the European. 

In the Negro, the aperture of the eyelids is smaller than in 
the European, and, of course, less of the eye is visible. The 
eye-ball is, perhaps, larger. 

Dr. Walter thinks, that the retina is of a more robust tex- 
ture than in Europeans. 

The ear is of more circular shape than in Europeans, and 
resembles somewhat more closely, the same organ in apes. 
It seems frequently to project farther than usual from the 
head. It is a well known fact, that Africans possess the sense 
of hearing in great perfection. 

The meatus auditorius externus is wider, although the whole 
os temporis is less than in Europeans. 

The nerves on the basis of the brain, in comparison with 
those of Europeans, under like conditions, appear somewhat 
thicker. This difference, which is most striking in the olfac- 
tory, optic, and fifth pairs might be presumed from analogy ; 
for, if the eye, ear, and organ of smell be larger, as has been 

* Prosper Alpinus says of the Egyptians, " Ungent vulvam 
moscho, ambaro, zibetho ad corrigendum foetorem, et ut coeuntibus 
concilient." From them, in all probability it was, that this custom, 
mentioned by Seneca, was borrowed by the Roman ladies. 



OF THE HUMAN SPECIES* 



89 



These truths, philosophers have often hinted at ; 
but they have altogether failed to mark, in the dif- 
ferent varieties, the relative magnitude of the or- 

stated, we must expect that the nerves, which supply these 
organs, will have correspondent magnitude. 

Cerebrum. 

The cerebral cavity of the iEthiop is, according to my ob- 
servations, longer, and, according to Camper's, at the same 
time narrower, than that of the Mongol. 

The iEthiopic scull, viewed in front, appears to be com- 
pressed at the sides, especially at the upper part ; its cavity 
seems to be straighter ; and the parietal bones are smaller in 
every dimension, than in European sculls. 

The impression left by the attachment of the upper margin 
of the temporal muscle, extendi rig from the os frontis over 
nearly the whole of the os parietale, is deeper, and ascends 
nearer to the sagittal suture in the Negro, than in the Euro- 
pean. 

The extraordinary height and circumference of the zygo- 
matic arch can leave little doubt that the bulk of the temporal 
muscle is likewise very considerable. On this cause depends 
the protuberance of the cheek bones, which are uncommonly 
large, and nearly quadrangular. 

None of the muscles of the face, except the masseters and 
those of the external ear, are uncommonly large. 

Sommerring found the length of a cord passed from the root 
of the nose, over the middle of the os frontis, and along the 
sagittal suture to the middle of the posterior margin of the os 
occipitis, to be less in the Negro than in the European. The 
vertical arch is, therefore, smaller. In selecting the speci- 



90 APPLICATION TO THE VARIETIES 



gans which perform the above mentioned func- 
tions. This was alone necessary to establish the 

mens to be compared, care was taken that the bones of the 
face were of equal length.* 

The circumference of the iEthiopic scull, ascertained by a 
cord passing horizontally over the eye-brow and the upper 
margin of the os temporis, is considerably less. 

Neither the largest diameter of the scull, from the os frontis 
to the os occipitis, nor any smaller diameter from one os 
parietale, or os temporis, to the other, attain the size they 
possess in the European. 

The principal bones which form the cavity of the cranium, 
are collectively smaller. The os frontis, ossa parietalia and 
os sphenoides appear smaller ; although the ossa petrosa and 
the os ethmoides seem larger. 

These bones possess a hard, compact and brittle texture, 
like those of quadrupeds. 

From the preceding remarks, we may infer, that, in the 
Negro, the size of this cavity bears a smaller proportion to 
the face and organs of sense, than it does in the European. 

It must be allowed that the cavity of the Negro's scull 
exceeds, in length, that of the Mongol.f 

* They should certainly have been of greater length in the JEthiopic 
heads selected by Sommerring ; for, in them, it is the tendency of the 
jaws to exceed, in proportional magnitude, all the other parts. The 
iEthiopic heads, in which the jaws were no longer than those of 
Europeans, must have been diminutive ; and the vertical arch of 
their calvarium is thus rendered too small. 

f Dr. W alter, like his predecessor Dr. Meckel, observes that the 
medullary substance of the brain of a Negro he dissected, was of a 
firmer texture than usual, and possessed that degree of elasticity 
which sometimes occurs in the brain of lunatics* 



OF THE HUMAN SPECIES. 



91 



natural theory of the causes of the varieties of 
our species. 

True it is, that the proofs which I have below ad- 
Cerebellum. 

Professor Lichtenberg has observed, that, in the Negro (as 
if a portion of the hind part of the scull were removed) the 
depression between the head and shoulders is much less con- 
siderable — a conformation exhibited by animals of the ape 
tribe in a still more remarkable degree. 

Sommerring repeats the observation. 

When the cavity of the European and iEthiopic cranium 
is of equal length, I have found that the cerebellic cavity of 
the iEthiopic, measured between the posterior clinoid process 
and the inside of the spine dividing the cavity posteriorly, is 
shortest ; but it does not seem to be proportionally narrower. 

The Mallikolenses have also, according to Forsters, a com- 
pressed occiput. 

In the Negro, the foramen magnum appears to lie not quite 
so forward as in us. 

An iEthiopic scull, after the maxilla inferior is removed, 
being laid on a table, falls backward, so that the teeth do not 
touch, but are suspended at the distance of more than a line 
above the surface of the table. The sculls of Europeans of 
mature age, usually incline forward, and rest with equal ease 
on the teeth, or on the os occipitis. All iEthiopic sculls, 
however, do not possess the property described. 

Moral Character. 
Sensibility — extreme, 

Observation, &c. — not permanent, but intense. 
Volition — weak. 



92 APPLICATION TO THE VARIETIES 

duced of the relative magnitude of the organs are 
chiefly collected from Camper, Blumenbach, Som- 

Proofs of this Character. 

Heat, by keeping the skin moist with perspiration and 
smooth, exposes the extremities of all the nerves, and in- 
creases the faculty, as well as the accuracy of sensation. 

The existence of the Africans, says Jefferson, appears to 
participate more of sensation than reflection. 

The passionate temper of these people, observed from the 
earliest antiquity, and mentioned by Hippocrates, arises from 
the sensibility thus induced. This is observable even among 
the Italians in Europe, and among West Indians descended 
of European parents. 

This increased sensibility accords with the greater develop- 
ment of the organs of sense in these people. 

The levity or inconstancy of mind so remarkable in warm 
climates, is dependent on the same sensibility. The mind is 
there open to all impulses ; but as these succeed one ano- 
ther rapidly, none of them make any very permanent im- 
pression, but efface one another in succession. The griefs of 
the NegrOs, says Jefferson, are transient. 

The sensation of weakness also discourages all exertion of 
body or mind, by suggesting the idea of inability ; and this 
idea, joined with a sensibility which weakness contributes to 
heighten, produces that timidity of character, for which, as 
Machiavelli observes, the people of hot climates are re- 
markable. 

To me, says Jefferson, they appear in reason much inferior 
to the whites, as I think one could scarcely be found capable 



OF THE HUMAN SPECIES. 93 

merring and others. Unfortunately, however, it is 
not more to be wondered at, than to be regretted, 

of tracing and comprehending the investigations of Euclid. — 
Yet many have been so situated, that they might have availed 
themselves of the conversation of their masters ; many have 
been brought up to the handicraft arts, and from that circum- 
stance, have always been associated with the whites. Some 
have been liberally educated, and all have lived in countries 
where the arts and sciences are cultivated to a considerable 
degree, and have had before their eyes samples of the best 
works from abroad. Never yet could I find a black who had 
uttered a thought above the level of plain narration ; never 
seen even an elementary trait of painting or sculpture. We 
know that, among the Romans, about the Augustan age espe- 
cially, the condition of their slaves was much more deplorable 
than that of blacks on the continent of America — yet their 
slaves were often their rarest artists, They excelled, too, in 
science, insomuch as to be usually employed as tutors to their 
masters' children. Epictetus, Terence and Phaedrus, were 
slaves ; but they were of the race of whites. It is not their 
condition, then, but nature which has produced the distinction. 

That the effects of imagination, however, are less apparent 
among the Africans, must be imputed to their want of intel- 
lect and not of imagination itself. Music — at least music of 
the more common and national kind, depends solely upon 
imagination and an ear ; and the power of composing it proves 
the existence of both. Jefferson, accordingly, grants that, " in 
music, they are more generally gifted than the whites with 
accurate ears for tune and time, and they have been found 
capable of imagining a small catch." Humboldt particularly 



94 APPLICATION TO THE VARIETIES 

that these excellent anatomists have not, in any one 
instance, traced the relative magnitude of these 
three organs even in a single variety of the species. 

ascribes imagination to them, as will be seen in the sequel. 
Indeed such striking effects of imagination, amidst such want 
of intelligence, decidedly proves the former to be one of their 
mental characteristics. 

This greater intensity, though less permanence, of mind 
than in the inhabitants of cold climates, accords remarkably 
with the greater length, though less breadth, of the cerebrum, 
than in these people. 



Indolence is a striking characteristic of the natives of hot 
climates, — seemingly interwoven into their very constitutions. 

" The country, says an intelligent observer, certainly pro- 
duces cotton, and might be cultivated with that article ; but 
it would be a very difficult thing to get the natives to cultivate 
any quantity. — The only piece of ground I ever saw culti- 
vated with cotton in Africa was my own planting, which 
might be the size of the floor of this house. I would have 
given the natives ten times the value of it, if they would have 
gathered it for me, but nothing could tempt them to gather it." 

This less energy of voluntary action perfectly accords with 
the less development of its organ — the cerebellum, in these 
people. 

In short, all the habits of the JEthiopic variety agree with 
the relative magnitudes of its organs of sense, cerebrum, and 
cerebellum; and they also afford the strongest confirmation of 
the theory which has been delivered. 



OF THE HUMAN SPECIES. 



95 



All their observations with regard to these, have 

been detached or insulated ; they have not thought 

Nations included in this variety. 
To this variety, all the Africans, except the northern ones 
belong.* See Plate VI. Fig. 5. 

RECAPITULATIONS OF THE CHARACTERS OF THESE VARIETIES. 

The Mongolic Variety has 
The Organs of Sense — small ; 
The Cerebrum — broad, but flat ; 
The Cerebellum — large : 
Sensibility — small ; 

Observation, &c. — permanent, but not intense; 
Volition — Powerful. 

* Other Peculiarities. 
Delicacy prevents my translating the following paragraph of Blu- 
menbach, and obliges me also to use the same language for my re- 
marks on it. 

" Nigritas rnentulatiores esse vulgo fertur. Respondet sane huic 
asserto insignis apparatus genitalium iEthiopis quem in supellectile 
mea anatomica servo. Num vero constans sit haec praerogativa et 
nationi propria nescio. Venere ardentes feminas amplexus Nigri- 
tarum aliis praeferre, dictum est. — Vice versa, etiam ^thiopissas et 
Mulatas maxime ab Europaeis expeti, relatum accepimus. Causam 
praestantiae, quae varia esse potest, ignoro. — Anne in eo similes Mon- 
golicis et Americanis nonullarum gentium feminis, de quibus pra&di- 
catur quod arcta servent muliebria etiamsi nuptae fuerint " ! ! ! 

Mira Blumenbachii modestia ! Sed docet physiologiae rerumque 
scientia, muliebria arcta servare impossibile esse in feminis cujusvis 
nationis, dum urant igniculi Amorum, et sese ad aras Veneris feminae 
prosternant. Minime omnium possibile est in feminis Africae, ubi 
Cupidines regnant indomiti, et fibrae sunt laxiores quam feminarum 
incolentium regiones positas sub Septentrionibus. Adscriptae praes- 
tantiae causae suffieientes sunt, harum feminarum et sensibilitas 
exquisitissima, et ardor insignis, et musculi artusque mobiliores, et 
novitas formarum amoris. 



96 APPLICATION TO THE VARIETIES 



it necessary to take any general view ; nor to draw 
any general conclusion. 

The Caucasian Variety has 
The Organs of Sense — of moderate size ; 
The Cerebrum — both broad and elevated ; 
The Cerebellum — of moderate size : 

Sensibility — moderate ; 

Observation, &c. — powerful ; 

Volition — moderate. 

The iEthiopic Variety has 
The Organs of Sense — large ; 
The Cerebrum — long, but narrow ; 
The Cerebellum — small : 

Sensibility — extreme ; 

Observation, &c. — not permanent, but intense; 
Volition — weak. 

Or, to take another view of the subject. The organs of 
sense are small in the Mongol ; intermediate in the European; 
and large in the iEthiop. 

The cerebrum is flat in the Mongol ; large in the European ; 
and narrow in the iEthiop. 

The cerebellum is large in the Mongol ; intermediate in the 
European ; and small in the iEthiop. 

Sensibility is small in the Mongol ; intermediate in the 
European ; and extreme in the iEthiop. 

Observation, &c. are not intense in the Mongol ; powerful 
in the European ; and not permanent in the ZEthiop. 

Volition is powerful in the Mongol; intermediate in the 
European ; and weak in the iEthiop. 

Now these national forms of crania are in general so con- 
stant, that they are even observable in the heads of infants. 



OF THE HUMAN SPECIES. 97 

Such generalization, with regard to the three 
great intellectual organs, was, I say, alone neces- 
sary to establish the natural theory of the causes 
of the varieties of our species ; for it being a fun- 
damental truth of physiology, that on the healthy 
magnitude of an organ depends the energy of its 
function, and reciprocally that the frequent em- 
ployment of that energy increases the magnitude 
of the organ, and it having also been shown that 
each variety evidences a particular function in a 
higher degree than any other — these truths being 
established, it was, I say, only necessary to be 
known, that each excelled as to the magnitude of 
that precise organ of which it evidenced the high- 
est degree of the function, in order to see that 
climate produces the physical characteristics of 
the varieties of our species (that is, the different 
developement of the intellectual organs, and the 
peculiar expansion of one in each variety), only be- 

Nor is this all : they appear to have been precisely similar 
among those ancient people who inhabited the same countries 
in which they are now found to exist. 



98 APPLICATION TO THE VARIETIES . 

cause the peculiar necessities of the climate call 
more frequently into action the function which that 
organ exercises. 

In a cold country, it is necessary that sensibility 
should be small, for there are there few objects to 
make grateful impressions on the senses ; but it is 
necessary that voluntary power should be great, 
for, without it, w 7 ants could not be supplied, nor 
vital action maintained. In a hot country, it is 
necessary that sensibility should be great, for it is 
every where excited by the most grateful impress 
sions ; but it is necessary that voluntary power 
should be small, for its exertion is not only useless 
but painful. — Hence, then, it is, that cold, by 
diminishing the sensibility and rendering inactive 
its organs, and by increasing the muscular power 
and rendering active its organ, diminishes, in the 
Mongol, the bulk of the organs of sense, and in- 
creases that of the cerebellum on which muscular 
exertion depends ; and hence, that heat, by increas- 
ing the sensibility and rendering active its organs, 
and by diminishing the muscular power, and ren- 
dering inactive its organ, increases, in the iEthiop, 



OF THE HUMAN SPECIES. 99 

the bulk of the organs of sense, and diminishes 
that of the cerebellum. 

Hence, too, it is that those who migrate to new 
climates, must infallibly assume their peculiar cha- 
racteristics in a greater or less degree ; and these, 
being communicated to children, are, by the opera- 
tion of the same causes, still further increased in 
them, till, after a long succession of ages, they 
have undergone all the changes which it is the 
tendency of the climate to produce, and become 
perfectly assimilated to its indigenous natives. 
Without this flexibility of animal organs, there 
could, indeed, exist no such thing as education. 

There remains yet another, though less striking, 
method by which to illustrate this influence of 
climate in producing the physical characters of the 
varieties of the species. — On the soil of every re- 
gion depends the nature of its waters ; and its air 
results from the degree of latitude in which it is 
placed, its vicinity to the ocean, its elevation above 
the level of the sea, the direction of its mountains, 
the exposure of its soil, the course of its rivers, the 
manner in which it is watered, and the emanations 

t 2 



100 APPLICATION TO THE VARIETIES, ETC. 

which take place from its surface. The vegetable 
productions of every region result implicitly from 
its soil and its waters, and accommodate them- 
selves to all the changes of its atmosphere. The 
animals of all regions, equally the creatures of the 
soil whence their aliment is derived, and still more 
sensibly modified by every external impression, 
are, as it were, the living images of their various 
localities. 



101 



CHAPTER VI. 

APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES TO THE 
ENGLISH, SCOTTISH, IRISH, AND OTHERS. 

Section I. — The English, fyc. 

The Arab, the Goth and the Scythian are the races 
which have peopled modern continental Europe, 
as well as the British Isles. The first has long 
belonged to the Caucasian variety of mankind ; 
the second has done so for a shorter period, and 
even now retains much of the Mongolic character ; 
and the third is, to the greatest extent, Mongolic. 

A branch of the Arabs, as Phoenicians, Moors, 
&;c. appears, from very remote times, to have occu- 
pied not only the southern but the northern shores 
of the Mediterranean. Spain, long previous to the 
Romans, as well as now, and, if I mistake not, 
France, in remoter times — in short, all the country 



102 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

called Celtica by the most ancient geographers, 
which seems to have included most of Spain as well 
as France, was peculiarly theirs. 

The Arab, Phoenician, or Carthaginian state of 
Spain in ancient times is as well known as the 
Moorish or Saracenic of modern days. The pro- 
gress and power of that people may, I conceive, be 
traced by observing, — in Spain the Celtse of He- 
rodotus, and the Celtiberi, Gallaici and Galloecia 
of subsequent writers, — and in France, the Celto- 
Galatia of Ptolemy, the Celtica of Democritus, 
Eratosthenes and Strabo, and the Celtse, Galli and 
Gallia of subsequent writers, — while another 
branch perhaps,^ the Celtse Scordisci, similarly ad- 
vancing, as it would seem, from the same eastern 
source, occupied the country about the Save and the 
Drave, in advance of the Getae. 

These tribes appear to me to have been the pro- 
genitors of all the smaller statured, meagre, swar- 
thy, black-haired and dark eyed people who, under 
the name of Celts, Gael, &c. occupied at least 

* The connection of the term Celt with the Arab may be 
accidental, and is in this view of no consequence. 



TO THE ENGLISH, ETC. 103 

western Europe. They are now to be found, little 
influenced either by climate or intermarriages, in 
the south of Spain, in France, in Ireland, and in the 
highlands of Scotland. 

This Arabic origin of the purer Gael of Scot- 
land and Ireland, and of the more impure of Wales, 
will surprise some readers ; but, if they bring to- 
gether the facts on this subject, as I have done, 
their surprise will cease. That the Moors and Sa- 
racens are more or less of Arabic descent, and that 
they crossed the Mediterranean and occupied 
nearly the whole of Spain both in ancient and mo- 
dern times, are facts disputed by no one. Now, 
to leave France, and air supposition of its Moorish 
Celts, and its peopling the opposite British shores, — 
it seems unquestionable, that the Moorish Spani- 
ards, for they even now are Moorish, and before the 
Gothic invasion they were far more so, passed over 
to Ireland, in the south of which every trait of their 
physiognomy is to be seen ; and the Irish again 
sent colonies to the highlands of Scotland : even 
Tacitus suspects the origin of the ancient Welsh to be 
Iberian — that is Mauro-Spanish. No wonder then ; 



104 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

that even without knowing this, Dr. Macculloch 
should say of the dark Highlanders "Take the hand- 
somest specimen of these 'men of Ind/ clap a turban 
on his head, and a pair of loose cotton trowsers on 
his heels, and he might pass for some Tartar or Af- 
ghan." 

Physiognomically considered, the whole race is re- 
markable for length and narrowness of head, and for 
intensity and vivacity of mental functions. Hence, 
too, we see, equally in the East and in the highlands 
of Scotland, tumuli or cairns, the howling over the 
dead, loose dresses, the love of splendor, &c. 

The Goths, under the name of Gutse, Gothi, 
Gothones, have long occupied countries on the 
shores of the Baltic ; and if they are of the same 
race with the Getse on the Danube mentioned by 
Herodotus and other ancient historians, and with 
the Massagetse of Democritus, Herodotus, Eratos- 
thenes, &c. residing on the north east of the Cas- 
pian and near to the Sassones on the Jaxartes, it is 
evident, that, from time immemorial, they have 
occupied north-eastern Europe and have pressed 
upon its south-western population. Upon that 



TO THE ENGLISH, ETC. 105 

population, however, the Gothic, as well apparently 
as some Sclavonic, tribes burst in, toward the mid- 
dle of the fifth century, when they either mixed 
with the ancient races, or drove them to the moun- 
tains and to remoter regions. 

These Gothic tribes have been the progenitors of 
the taller, fair-complexioned, yellow, red or brown 
haired, and blue eyed people of modern Europe ; 
and the portion of them which is most remarkable 
for these characteristics appears to have occupied 
north Germany, Holland, and the lowlands of En- 
gland and Scotland. 

Physiognomically considered, these people are 
remarkable for breadth. and shortness of head, and 
for permanence and slowness of mental functions. 
In this respect, as well as in relative length of body 
and shortness of limbs, they still bear considerable 
resemblance to the Mongolic variety of the human 
species. 

The Scythians, represented by the Russians in 
modern times, long ago spread themselves into 
Poland, Bohemia, Prussia, Illyria, Hungary and 
Turkey : and the great body of them have, since 

f 5 



106 APPLICATION OP THESE PRINCIPLES 

those times, been advancing with the conquests of 
Russia. — Some tribes of this kind from the shores 
of the White Sea have originated those of the peo- 
ple of northern Scotland, who are remarkable for 
high cheek bones, short noses, sharp chins, and 
other Russian characteristics. 

Thus the population of the British isles has been 
composed chiefly of two more original races, the 
Celtic and the Gothic, 

Of the arrival of the more ancient colonies, we 
have no record that can be trusted. The Welsh 
Triads are too contemptible to deserve any notice ; 
and the notion of a people who write nothing now 
when they are half civilized, having written any 
thing but nonsense when they were savage, is quite 
absurd. These Triads are of a piece with their 
ancient poetry, which certainly is the most sense- 
less stuff that ever pretended to the name. And as 
both of these are constructed with a view to the 
purity and high antiquity of the Welsh race, though 
it is a complete mongrel of Celt, Roman, Saxon, &c. 
with an equally mongrel jargon for a language, 
the utter worthlessness of both is evident. 



TO THE ENGLISH, ETC. 107 

Tacitus, in whom some trust may be reposed^ 
speaking of a Celtic race of his own time, the Si- 
luri, a people of South Wales, says, " Silurum co- 
lorati vultus, et torti plerumque crines, et positu 
contra Hispaniam, Iberos veteres trajecisse, easque 
sedes occupasse, fidem faciunt " of the Silurians, 
the swarthy faces, and generally curled hair, and situ- 
ation opposite to Spain, make us believe that the old 
Iberians passed over, and occupied those seats." # 

Many ancient authorities may be brought for- 
ward to establish the Gothic distinction of yellow 
or red hair, blue eyes, &c. Tacitus, in describing 
the Germans, says, that the habit of body, although 
in so great a number of men, was the same in all — 
fierce and blue eyes, red hair, large and powerful 
bodies : " habitus quoque corporum, quanquam 
in tanto hominum numero, idem omnibus : truces 
et cerulei oculi, rutilae comee, magna corpora, et 
tantum ad impetum valida/'f And these continue 

* Thus he renders probable their Celtic origin, and traces 
a portion of that Arabic or Moorish progress to the north, 
which I have suggested. 

t Tac. de Mor. Germ. 



108 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

to characterize their descendants in these islands, 
as much as the swarthy faces and curled hair do 
those of the Celti. 

By a blending, then, of these two races have the 
great mass of British population been composed. 
But still we may distinguish these two in a state of 
extraordinary purity • as the Celtic in the highlands 
of Scotland and some parts of Ireland, and the 
Gothic or Saxon on the eastern coast of England. 

It is further particularly to be remarked, that 
around our coasts, and extending some depth in- 
ward, are generally to be found tribes corresponding 
to those of the opposite shores of the continent, 
as if the districts which they occupy had been the 
nearest ways of reaching, and the most convenient 
for settling on, these islands. — In this second point 
of view, then, we may now consider the British 
population. 

The southern coast of England being most conti- 
guous to France, we have, about the middle of that 
side, a fair population resembling the Normans of 
the opposite shores. 

In Kent, we have a darker people, like those of 



TO THE ENGLISH, ETC. 109 

Picardie and Artois opposite* We have there also 
names similar to those of France ; and I have been 
struck by observing, in Kent, and particularly at 
Folkstone, the same guttural or sub-lingual pro- 
nunciation, which I had previously heard in the 
provinces above mentioned. All observers who 
know both coasts must have noted the circum- 
stance, or will at least be struck with the resem- 
blance now that it is pointed out. 

In the southern counties on the eastern coast of 
England, we have again a fairer people who strik- 
ingly resemble those of Holland and Friezland op- 
posite to them. Till lately a Dutch fair was an- 
nually held at Yarmouth, on the arrival of their 
men for the fishing season ; and doubtless that has 
been the road from Holland from time immemorial. 
— The manly and independent character of the 
Friezlander accordingly abounds in this district. 
[See Plate VI.] 

Over a great part of this coast, however, we find 
much to remind us of the character of the Swedes ; 
and the frequent terminations of the names of 
places in ham, by, Sec. seem strongly to indicate 



110 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

their Swedish original. — With finer features, we 
accordingly find much Swedish mildness as well as 
coldness of character, its honesty and absence of 
cunning, its industry and cleanliness ; and it would 
not be difficult to discover many parallels to those 
of Dr. Clarke, who says, that, in the Swedish cot- 
tages, the furniture is not only scoured but polished 
until it shines, and who saw a Swedish female pea- 
sant standing with a pail upon the top of the roof 
of her cottage white washing her chimney. 

In the northern counties of the eastern coast of 
England, constituting anciently the kingdom of 
Northumberland, we more frequently find the yet 
fairer complexion and redder hair of the opposite 
Danes, and, in the more northern part of that 
country, we hear the guttural r, which still distin- 
guishes equally the Danes and our north country- 
men, and the infliction of which on the French 
generally, was probably due to their Norman con- 
querors. — Here, too, we can match the littleness 
of the Danish character of which Wolff says " in 
search of antiquities, I went with the Professor 
(Thorkelin) to visit a man of virtu, and collector of 




C° CcrahilL,L oud on . 



TO THE ENGLISH, ETC. Ill 

curiosities. He had formed a singular collection 
of keys of every description, from that of St. Peter's, 
down to the most diminutive Venetian padlock." 
Nor can we less match Danish obsequiousness so 
well described at the termination of the seventeenth 
century by an author who says, that " the clocks 
in Copenhagen are not allowed to strike the hour 
before the court clock." — The same traits are re- 
markable in canny Cumberland. 

In Lancashire, I should observe, as well as in 
Yorkshire, the people are frequently tall, but, at 
the same time, somewhat awkward. 

Nearly the whole of North Wales and part ot 
South Wales, is occupied by a light or blue-eyed 
people, a circumstance which appears to be owing 
to a Belgic extraction. This is observable in 
Anglesea, Caernarvonshire, Merionethshire, and 
the adjoining districts. 

In South Wales, the light eye ceases to be gene- 
ral, and the dark prevails, through a great portion 
of the counties of Glamorgan and Monmouth, a 
circumstance which is easily accounted for by the 
Celtic origin of the people, as suggested by Tacitus, 



112 APPLICATION OF THESE PRIKCIPLES 

and confirmed by the structure of their language, 
though the body of it is as much Gothic and Low 
Latin as Celtic. — The same may, I believe, be said 
of the people of Cornwall. — Both of these resem- 
ble the Bretons of the opposite coast of France ; 
and their languages are similar. [See Plate VII.] 

The people of the midland counties are a mixture 
of those we have now described on the surrounding 
coasts. In general, they are coarse in appearance, 
both as to form and features. 

We may now, in the same manner, examine the 
population of Scotland. 

In the lowlands of Scclland, it is easy to ob- 
serve a Saxon population, distinguished by its com- 
mon characteristics of a rounder or squarer face, 
shorter stature, &c. ; a Swedish, which is taller, with 
more oval face, and which is widely spread over 
the country, giving the mildness and gentleness of 
character which is generally observed among the 
lowlanders of Scotland ; and a Danish which has 
all the littleness of that race. These, with Nor- 
wegians, appear to have formed the Pictish popu- 



/// 




so 



EE JLcG) 



.hill, London. 




Ito&xiimmMm-m the toirthemn put ©if tile zas 



TO THE ENGLISH, ETC. 113 

lation of ancient and the lowlanders of modem 
times. [See Plate VIIL] 

In the highlands of Scotland, the same variety 
of races will be found ; and of these the most re- 
markable are the Scandinavian or Norwegian tribes 
of the eastern coast, or that opposite the continental 
regions whence they spring, and the Celtic of the 
w r estern coast opposite to Ireland, with the ancient 
and purer Celtic population of which they were 
intimately connected. [For the former, see Plate 
IX. a woman of the north east ; and for the latter, 
see Plate X.] 

Both Pinkerton and Macculloch are of opinion 
that the Gothic blood predominates among the 
Magnates, or Duine Wassels, and the Celtic among 
the common people ; agreeing in this respect with 
the Gartmore MS., in which it is stated, that " the 
principal people of the Highlands are of a differ- 
ent race from the commons ; being larger bodied 
than the inferior sort : they are, in fact, taller and 
stouter." " And the writer might equally have 
added," Macculloch remarks, " that the fair com- 



114 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

plexion is generally found among them, and very 
rarely the Celtic cast." Both Pinkerton, then, 
and Macculloch agree in observing, that the higher 
class still retain that superior rank in society which 
their Norwegian ancestors assumed when they 
came into Scotland as conquerors. Sir Walter 
Scott, moreover, in his poem of Marmion, has 
noticed this difference ; though he has not there 
attemped to account for it. In describing the 
Highlanders at Flodden field, he says : — 

" Their leg below the knee was bare; 
Their form was sinewy, short, and spare ; 

And hardened to the blast. 
Of taller race the chiefs they own ; 
And by the eagle's plumage known." 

The pure Northman, says Macculloch, " is tall 
and stout, with round limbs, and inclining to be fat 
when well fed : his complexion is fair, ruddy when 
young, and his face full ; while his eyes are blue, 
and his hair sandy, or sometimes red. A fine spe- 
cimen of the Northern descent, offers a striking 
contrast to the pure descendant of Celtic stock, 
bred in and in, till he has been reduced to a size 
and physiognomy not much more respectable than 



A HIG-H3CAKBJ2M \ 



TO THE ENGLISH, ETC. 115 

that of chimpanzee. Small, slender, and dry, with 
eyes of jet, and a sallow skin, his cheek-bones are 
acute, his lips thin, and his expression keen and 
wild ; the small head being covered with long shin- 
ing straight locks of coal-black hair. Take the 
handsomest specimen of these men of Ind ; clap a 
turban on his head, and a pair of loose cotton 
trowsers on his heels, and he might pass for some 
Tartar or Afghan. A woman of the same descent, 
with a few black rags of ostrich feathers and a silk 
bonnet, would hardly be distinguished from our 
purest specimens of gypsies. Yet, in general, the 
physiognomy is far from disagreeable ; melancholy, 
yet resolute, and commonly intelligent, whenever, at 
least, the possessor is engaged in active life. If 
otherwise, nothing can well look more averse to 
thinking or action than the face of a dark Highland- 
er, as you may often see him by a dyke side in the 
rain, or lounging by his crazy and neglected boat 
on the sea-shore. Though the stature is small, the 
limbs are well formed, and the muscles marked by 
power and activity. There are few who can row 
against a practised Highlander, either for strength 



116 AP PLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

or time. I have often been obliged to keep my 
boat's crew at the oar for twelve, and even fifteen 
hours in a heavy sea> without rest or relief. A walk- 
ing Highlander will perform his fifty or sixty miles 
in a day ; and when it is done, he will probably be 
found lounging about among his friends, instead of 
resting himself, ready to begin again the next day." 
" If we meet with power, and with beauty of stature 
and form, under various aspects, it is always greater 
as the Norse leaven predominates, or when the hair 
is not black, and the eyes are blue or fair. In fact, 
the Gothic race has done for the Highlands just 
what it has done for England. It is the same in 
France, where almost all the beauty of the nation is 
comprised in Normandy/' # 

In Moray, on the eastern coast, it has been ob- 
served, that the people of some part of that country 
are remarkable for a larger size, and different for- 
mation, of the head ; and it is said that the differ- 
ence of size would be found so great, that a hat, 
which fitted the head of a Highlander, or an En- 



* Vol. iv. pp. 254, 255, 256. 



iJJOSIFLMAI^==- (Q>JF TJKE WQMTM 



ubii s'hcd b) Sjxi • J- . c id.er *■ C? Co.rnMl.l ondnn. 



TO THE ENGLISH, ETC. 117 

glishman, would not go on that of a Moray-man of 
this district. These people are said to be of Lap- 
land origin. 

In Argyleshire, on the western coast, it has also 
been observed, that the people of Lorn in particular 
are remarkable for a Roman style of countenance ; 
the nose being high and angular, though the eye is 
almost universally gray and small. 

As to the Irish — those of the north resemble 
very closely the people of the north of Scotland — 
like them, in short, they are Northmen; while 
those of the south are, more or less purely, Celts. 
[For the former, see Plate XI ; and for the latter, 
Plate XII.] 

In the south of Ireland, most opposed to the 
Spanish coast, we find dark hair, generally accom- 
panied by a gray or blueish eye, and sometimes by 
a high nose, and thin or linear lips. 

It is these men, with Arab or Celtic blood in 
their veins, who have so long struggled with oppres- 
sion. " It is usual," says an anonymous writer, of 
the Irish, " to exclaim against the ferocity of the 
lower orders, and charge as an ineradicable stain on 



118 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

the national character, the frightful crimes commit- 
ted in these periodical paroxysms. God forbid we 
should not feel as deep a horror at those sanguin- 
ary deeds, as any other individual in the empire ; 
but if we wish to understand the real feelings and 
motives of the Irish peasant, we must always bear 
in mind, that he considers himself engaged in a war 
with the law and all its adherents, civil and military, 
where he is perfectly justified in using every sort of 
stratagem. All his conduct must be estimated in 
that light. It is a state of open hostility between 
two parties, whose business it is to deceive and 
kill as many as they can. If he shoot a man 
from behind a fence, it is not an assassination, it is 
merely an ambush, — if he intercept a proctor, it 
is a party of the enemy cut off, — if six or seven 
policemen be killed, it is a brilliant infantry affair, 
— if a house be burned down, the peasant would 
think himself more justifiable than Sir G. Cock- 
burn, when, in the last American war, he reduced 
sd> many private houses to ruins, — for he perils 
more than that gallant officer — he is exposed to 
two chances, the sword and the halter." Here the 



by t:h:k sotttjel 



-Published, "by SmittLjUa^r & C? CorrOiLll.IoiLaoTi. 



TO THE ENGLISH, ETC. 119 

maze is in some measure, unravelled, the mystery 
cleared, so far as regards public and political affairs. 

CHARACTERS OF THE ENGLISH, SCOTS, AND IRISH. 

To judge of the effects of civil, political, or religious 
institutions, without a knowledge of the character 
of the people to whom they refer, is impossible. 

The differences of character, even in the nations 
comprising the British empire, are very great. 
These differences of character are not more remark- 
able than the accompanying, and apparently corres- 
ponding, differences of organization. 

Hostile to the mysticism and empiricism of the 
phrenologists, I am yet, with their more reasoning 
predecessors in physiology, satisfied, that character 
and organization are inseparably united. — But of 
this afterwards. 

The manner in which national character is form- 
ed, is a subject at once of great curiosity, and of the 
very highest importance. As I am not aware that 
any thing has yet been w r ritten about it, I shall 
briefly notice it here. 

We know, perhaps, of no existing nation which 



120 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

is not composed of various tribes ; and these in 
general differ greatly in origin, organization, cha- 
racter, &c. Yet there is almost always a national 
character, which is more or less common to the 
whole, and which, with the progress of time, is 
perpetually becoming more homogeneous, until war- 
like invasion, or peaceful colonization introduce 
new tribes. 

The causes of this assimilation are of two kinds, 
as belonging either to the country, or to its inhabit- 
ants. Belonging to the former, are soil, climate, 
and their productions ; and of these the effects are 
ultimately the greatest, but their operation is always 
the slowest. Belonging to the latter, are intermar- 
riages, which operate far more rapidly than soil, 
&c. though they ultimately yield to these, — and so- 
cial intercourse, which operates more rapidly and 
more extensively, but less permanently still. 

The more rapid assimilation of the higher classes 
not only of the same but of different countries from 
social intercourse, is a striking illustration of the 
formation of national character. 

It is the manner in which this more rapid, more 



TO THE ENGLISH, ETC. 121 

extensive, though less permanent cause operates, 
that seems chiefly to have escaped observation. 
Examples will best illustrate its effects ; and those 
which the British isles afford are most to our pur- 
pose. 

In England, the tribes are Saxon, Welsh, &c. ; 
but the Saxon character predominates. In Scot- 
land, the tribes are Pictish or Northman, # Celtic, 
&c. ; but the Pictish character, upon the whole, 
predominates. In Ireland, the tribes are Celtic, 
Northman &c. ; but the Celtic character predomi- 
nates. In each case, the predominating character 
seems to be that of the majority. 

ENGLISH CHARACTER. 

The Saxons of England exist nearly pure on 

its eastern coast, are extensively spread over the 

whole of its surface, and perhaps equal in number 

all the other races that enter into the composition 

of English population. 

* I have no wish here to insist on, or dispute respecting, 
the name or origin of the tribe which has mainly formed the 
lowland population of Scotland : it is enough, for the present 
view, that a tribe of well-marked character has done so. 

G 



122 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

The Saxon Englishman (for brevity, I may use 
only the latter name) is distinguished from other 
races by a stature rather low, owing chiefly to the 
neck and limbs being short, by the trunk and vital 
system being large, and the complexion, irides, and 
hair light, and by the face being broad, the fore- 
head large, and the upper and back part of the 
head round and rather small. 

In his walk, the Englishman rolls, as it were, on 
his centre. This is caused by the breadth of the 
trunk, and the comparative weakness of the limbs. 
The broader muscles, therefore, of the former, aid 
progression by a sort of rolling motion, throwing 
forward first one side and then another. So en- 
tirely does this depend on the breadth of the trunk, 
that even a temporary increase of it produces this 
effect. Men who become fat, and women who, 
having borne many children, have the heads of 
the thigh bones farther separated, always adopt 
this mode of progression. 

The mental faculties of the Englishman are not 
absolutely of the highest order ; but the absence 
of passion gives them relatively a great increase, 

% 



TO THE ENGLISH, ETC. 123 

and leaves a mental character equally remarkable 
for its simplicity and its practical worth. 

The most striking of these points in the English 
character which may be called fundamental, are 
cool observation, unparalleled single-mindedness, 
and patient perseverance. This character is re- 
markably homogeneous. 

The cool observation of the Englishman is the 
foundation of some other subordinate, but yet im- 
portant, points in his character. One of the most 
remarkable of these, is that real curiosity, but ab- 
sence of wonder, which makes the " nil admirari" 
a maxim of English society. It is greatly asso- 
ciated, also, with that reserve for which the En- 
glish are not less remarkable. 

The single-mindedness of the Englishman is the 
foundation of that sincerity and bluntness which 
are perhaps his chief characteristics, — which fit 
him so well for the business of life, and on which 
his commercial character depends, — which make 
him hate (if he can hate any thing) all crookedness 
of procedure, and which alarm him even at the in- 
sincerities and compliances of politeness. 

g 2 



124 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

The perseverance of the Englishman is the foun- 
dation of that habitude which guides so many of 
his own actions, and that custom in which he par- 
ticipates with all his neighbours. It is this which 
makes universal cant, as it has been profanely 
termed, # not reasoning, the basis of his morals, 
and precedent, not justice, the basis of his juris- 
prudence. But it is this also which, when his rights 
are outraged, produces that grumbling which, when 
distinctly heard, effectually protects them ; and it 
is this which creates that public spirit to which, on 
great emergencies, he rises with all his fellow- 
countrymen, and in which he persists until its re- 
sults astonish even the nations around him. 

Now, a little reflection will shew, that of the 
three fundamental qualities I have mentioned, the 
first seeming may easily be less amiable than the 
final result shall be useful. — To a stranger of dif- 
ferently constructed mind, the cold observation, in 
particular, and the slowness and reserve which 
must accompany it, may seem unsociable ; but 

* The word must not here be understood as implying hypo- 
crisy, of which the Saxon temperament is very innocent. 



TO THE ENGLISH, ETC. 125 

they are inseparable from such a construction of 
mind, and they indicate, not pride, but that respect 
for his feelings, which the possessor thinks them 
entitled to, and which he would not violate in 
others. The dignity, therefore, which, in this case, 
the Englishman feels, is not hauteur ; and he is as 
rarely insolent to those who are below, as timid to 
those who are above him. 

In regard to mental capacity, it may easily be 
conceived, that speculative opinions are no favou- 
rites in England. They are directly opposed to the 
genius of the nation, which, as it considers the dis- 
covering of precedent as the highest achievement 
in its jurisprudence, so it regards the discovery of 
applicable document and authority as the best re- 
sult of its literary, moral, civil, political, and reli- 
gious investigation, and which marks its sense of 
the superior import of documentary and authorita- 
tive discovery by the scrupulous conscientiousness 
with which one author acknowledges his obligations 
to another, even for so small a matter as a refer- 
ence to a particular page of an older work. 

In regard to perseverance as well as observation, 



126 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

the relation in which France and England stand to 
each other is really curious. France is unquestion- 
ably the experimenter, and often leads the way ; 
but unfortunately, she often forgets the experiment, 
and more frequently still she omits to profit by it. 
Happily, England adopts, though slowly, the re- 
sults to which her neighbour's experiments lead ; 
and thus they are preserved for the adoption of 
other nations. This difference subsists between all 
the modes of thinking of the two nations, and af- 
fects even their aits and their industry. France, 
therefore, excels in the chemical arts, where less 
expected and more brilliant results gratify the ge- 
nius of her people. England excels in the mecha- 
nical arts, where the end is foreseen, and every step 
toward the close is patiently contemplated. 

In regard to the absence of passion from the 
English mind, it is this which forbids one to be 
charmed with music, to laugh at comedy, to cry at 
tragedy, to show any symptom of joy or sorrow in 
the accidents of real life, ■ — which has no accurate 
notion of grief or wretchedness, and cannot attach 
any sort of meaning to the word ecstacy, — and 



TO THE ENGLISH, ETC. 127 

which, for all these reasons, has a perfect perception 
of whatever is ridiculous. Hence it is, that, in his 
domestic^ his social, and his public relations, it is 
perhaps less affection than duty that guides the con- 
duct of an Englishman ; and, if any one question 
the moral grandeur which this sentiment may attain, 
let him call to mind the example of it, which just 
before the victory of Trafalgar, was given by Nel- 
son, in the simple and sublime communication to 
his fleet — " England expects every man to do his 
duty ! " Which is the instance that equals this even 
in the forged records of Roman glory ? Happily ^ 
too, the excess of hatred is as little known to the 
Englishman as excess of love ; and revenge is ab- 
horrent to his nature. Even in the pugilistic com- 
bat, he shakes hands with his antagonist before 
he begins ; he scorns to strike him when he is down • 
and whether vanquished or victor, he leaves his an- 
tagonist neither cast down nor triumphant. # 

* Lord Byron's observations on fashionable life in London, 
will be better appreciated after the preceding analysis — 

" Talking of fashionable life in London, Lord Byron said 
that there was nothing so vapid and ennuyeux, 6 The En- 
glish/ said he, 6 were intended by nature to be good, sober- 



128 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 



The extraordinary value of such a character is 
obvious enough. British liberty and British com- 

minded people; and those who live in the country are really 
admirable. I saw a good deal of English country life, and it 
is the only favourable impression that remains of our mode of 
living ; but of London, and exclusive society, I retain a fear- 
ful recollection. Dissipation has need of wit, talent, and 
gaiety to prevent reflection, and make the eternal round of 
frivolous amusements pass ; and of these/ continued Byron, 
' there was a terrible lack in the society in which I mixed . 
The minds of the English are formed of sterner stuff. You 
may make an Englishwoman (indeed Nature does this) the 
best daughter, wife, and mother in the world ; nay you may 
make her a heroine ; but nothing can make her a genuine 
woman of fashion ! And this latter role is the one which par 
preference, she always wishes to act. Thorough-bred English 
gentlewomen/ said Byron, ' are the most distinguished and 
lady-like creatures imaginable. Natural, mild, and dignified, 
they are formed to be placed at the heads of our patrician 
establishments; but when they quit their congenial spheres to 
enact the leaders of fashion, les dames d la mode, they bungle 
sadly. Their gaiety degenerates into levity — their hauteur 
into incivility — their fashionable ease and nonchalance into 
hrusquerie — and their attempts at assuming les usages du 
monde into a positive outrage on all the bienseances. In short, 
they offer a coarse caricature of the airy flightiness and ca- 
pricious but amusing legerete of the French, without any of 
their redeeming espieglerie and politesse. And all this because 
they will perform parts in the comedy of life for which nature 
has not formed them, neglecting their own dignified cha- 
racters. ' " 



TO THE ENGLISH, ETC. 129 

merce are its results : neither the Scottish nor Irish 
mind would so easily have attained them. 

I have said, however, that the intellectual facul- 
ties of the Englishman are not absolutely of the 
highest order; and this is owing to his want of 
higher reasoning powers, as well as of passion. 
Happily, indeed, with the want of these reasoning 
powers, the passions also are wanting ; for had the 
latter existed without the former, the English cha- 
racter would have been utterly marred. — This will 
throw some light on what we have next to say. 

Every intermarriage or cross, or every new acces- 
sion of character, however acquired, is not an ad- 
vantage. — This being premised, let us consider 
those which take place by the blending of the 
Saxon English with the surrounding tribes.* 

Here, I should remind the reader of having al- 
ready shown, that, independent of the decendants of 
the various invading tribes, still easily discernible, 
the coasts of England and Scotland present masses 
of population of greater or less depth, regularly 
corresponding to the population of the shores of the 
Continent which are respectively opposite to them, 



130 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

It is but few of these, however, that need again be 
noticed here. 

In the west, the Saxon English are blended with 
the Welsh ; but there is here no gain, because the 
Welsh cross can add passion chiefly, without higher 
reasoning powers. The Welsh, in fact, are already 
a compound of Celt, Saxon, &c, as both physiog- 
nomy and language prove ; and in them the imagi- 
nation, or the passion of the former, and the perse- 
verance of the latter, combine to produce that dull 
mysticism, or that dark and smouldering anger, 
which sometimes elicits such frightful consequences. 

In the south, the Saxon English are blended with 
the French, as is evinced by the dark complexion 
which marks our Kentish and southern population ; 
and, in that population, we sometimes witness 
something of French sharpness added to Saxon 
firmness, and no increase of amiability of charac- 
ter. 

In the north, the Saxon English are blended with 
the Picts or Northmen of Scotland, as the taller 
and sparer form of the Yorkshire, Lancashire, and 
northern population in general shews ; and the ad- 



TO THE ENGLISH, ETC. 131 

ditional reasoning powers thence obtained, are 
evinced in the ingenious industry of the northern 
towns of Manchester, Sheffield, Leeds, &c. # 

Thus, in England, there is a great deficiency of 
any advantageous cross — there is scarcely any 
thing to improve the Saxon race ; but, to compen- 
sate for this, that race has such sterling fundamental 
qualities, and it so easily receives much improvement 
from the slight intermixture with the remoter Pict- 
ish, Scandinavian, or Danish races, that it greatly 
excels its original type, which may still be seen in 
Friezland and elsewhere on the opposite coast ; and 
it is, at the same time, so extensively diffused over 
the country, that, in its character, the other English 
races are entirely swallowed up. 

Now, may the mode in which the Saxon cha- 
racter dominates over that of the other English 
races be more easily understood, — whether these 
races form a permanent portion of English popu- 
lation, or consist of the scarcely less numerous in- 
truders from Scotland and Ireland. 

* The Danish, Norman, and other races, require no par- 
ticular notice as to character, in a sketch like this. 



132 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

How mad the dull mysticism — how atrocious 
the gloomy passion — of Wales must seem amid 
the lucid common-sense and unimpassioned judg- 
ment of England, may be easily conceived. How 
abashed their possessors must feel, when surrounded 
by a more numerous race, not more distinguished 
from them by plain sense, and candid impartiality, 
than by civilization and opulence, is equally obvious. 

Equally obvious is it how mean the prying en- 
quiry, how reptile-like the bending obsequiousness 
of Scotland, — how malignant her party-spirit, even 
in the sanctuaries of science, how satanical her con- 
sequent persecution, — how like fraud her crooked 
ratiocination, how like stolen goods the wealth ac- 
cumulated by such unholy means, — must seem in 
merry England • while the very intellect of her 
natives must make them shrink before the calm 
eye of the honest, sturdy, and uncrompromising 
Englishman. 

Not less obvious is it how utterly worthless and 
contemptible must seem Irish want of judgment, 
Want of principle and want of industry, and how 
well-deserved Irish wretchedness ; — though it is to 



TO THE ENGLISH, ETC 133 

be feared that the natural effect of this inevitable 
contempt is less salutary than, for the sake of Ire- 
land, one would wish it to be. 

Thus, however, must in England all characters 
ultimately merge in the Saxon, 

SCOTTISH CHARACTER. 

The Scottish character cannot be treated as I 
have treated the English. In Scotland, no tribe 
predominates so greatly as the Saxon does in En- 
gland. The Celt of the Highlands predominates 
as completely within his circle, as the Pict or 
Northman in the Lowlands ; and the national cha- 
racter is fast forming by the union of both. They 
must, therefore, be considered separately. # 

The Picts, or Northmen, of the Lowlands, exist 
nearly pure on their eastern coast, and, I believe, 
considerably exceed in number the rest of the Low- 
land population. 

* There are in Scotland, as already shewn, other tribes, as 
the Saxon in the Lowlands, and various others along the 
eastern and northern coasts : but they are unimportant to our 
present view. 



134 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

The Lowlander is distinguished generally by a 
tall stature, and a rather sinewy frame, by com- 
plexion, irides, and hair rather light, and by the 
face being long, and the upper part of the head 
equally so in the horizontal direction. 

In his walk, the Lowlander, being long-limbed, 
steps well out, having neither the lateral roll of the 
Englishman, nor the spring of the Highlander, but 
advancing directly, steadily, and firmly. 

The mental faculties of the Lowlander are of a 
very high order ; being sensibility, discrimination, 
prudence, &c. 

The sensibility of the Lowlander is the founda- 
tion of some of his best and worst qualities — his 
benevolence, as well as his pride and revenge. 

The benevolence of the Lowlander, however, is 
too much under the controul of prudence to be evi- 
denced by acts that cost him aught pecuniarly; 
but he will frequently sacrifice what cost him much 
more — his time, his exertions, and his interest, to 
the utmost extent of his ability. Many subordi- 
nate points in his character indicate the general 
exercise of this sentiment ; as even the tone or chant 



TO THE ENGLISH, ETC. 



135 



of his language, which is in this respect remarka- 
bly distinguished from the briefer and gruffer tone 
of the Englishman, and the more gay and careless 
one of the Irishman ; # so is it indicated by the soft 
and plaintive melody of his music, which, owing to 
the frequently vulgar and always ill adapted words 
of Burns, is unappreciated in England : more palpa- 
bly still is it indicated by that pliability and sua- 
vity of mamiers, by which he is distinguished from 
the English, and more nearly resembles the Irish. 
— To the irritability, pride, and revenge, which 
spring from the same source, I have already al- 
luded. 

The discriminating power of the Lowlander are 
equally evidenced by his success in abstract and 
philosophical enquiry, and by his shrewdness in 

* The tone or chant, is vulgarly denominated brogue. 
Wherever there are various tribes in a nation, each is distin- 
guished by this. The brogue of England is as distinguishable 
as that of Ireland ; and it is far less musical than either it or 
the Scottish. The Scottish chant consists of many inflections, 
but falls upon the whole, and may be represented by a falling 
curve ; the Irish, with as many inflections, by a rising curve ; 
and the English, by a series of equal and shorter curves. 



136 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

the affairs of common life. In the former of these 
respects, Scotland — a nation of two millions and 
a half — stands at least as high as England, a 
nation of fourteen, or France, a nation of thirty; 
and in regard to that education which enhances 
the reasoning powers of the rising race, Scotland 
takes precedence of every other nation. — Unfortu- 
nately, in Scotland, pride and want of candour 
too often degrade knowledge into sophistry; and 
the shrewdness of common life is apt to degenerate 
into mean prying for the promotion of interest. 

The prudence of the Lowlander is proverbial — 
perhaps excessive. On one hand, it gives rise to 
that of love of accumulation in which the means is 
often mistaken for the end, that fear to do a good 
action lest some ill should come of it which is so 
absurd and contemptible, that narrow-minded sus- 
picion which is a greater curse to the suspector than 
the suspected, and that deference to fortune and inter- 
est which is so base and disgraceful ; and, on the 
other hand, joined to the preceding qualities, it is 
the foundation of that industry, economy, and free- 



TO THE ENGLISH, ETC. 



137 



dom from crime, by which Scotland is distinguished 
from England as well as Ireland. # 

* We could not, says Mr. Warner, quit this boundary of 
Caledonia, little as we had seen of the country, without casting 
c one longing ling'ring look behind/ not so much on account 
of the beautiful scenery with which we had of late been so 
agreeably amused, as on that of the character of its inhabit- 
ants, whose manners, as far as our opportunity of observing 
them extended, had interested us extremely. Tainted, per- 
haps (though I am almost unwilling to suppose it), with some 
of those prejudices which the illiberality of my own country- 
men have so generally excited against the Scottish character 
(and which, I am inclined to think, arises rather from our envy 
at their mental superiority, than from any conviction of their 
comparative moral or intellectual defects), I was greatly but 
agreeably surprised to find nothing but what was amiable and 
exemplary in every class of Scotch society. Hospitality, 
kindness, and most minute attention to the comfort and ease 
of their guests, mark the character of the Scotch gentlemen ; 
whilst the peasantry are equally remarkable for the same good 
qualities in a ruder way, and the more valuable ones of 
correct morality, sincere piety, and an exemplary decency in 
language and manners. Struggling with poverty which al- 
most amounts to a privation of food, and condemned to a 
labour before which the southern Britons would sink down in 
listless despondence, the Scotch peasant displays a degree of 
patience and industry, accompanied at the same time with 
content, that place him on the scale of moral excellence far 
above those who ridicule or despise him. Serious without 
moroseness ; quick, without asperity ; and sagacious without 



138 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

Thus, the best characteristic of the Lowlanders 
(and it is difficult to conceive a better) is their ex- 
traordinary discriminating power; their greatest 
defect is in imagination and passion. 

Happily, most happily, these are supplied by the 
Celts of the Highlands, with whom the Lowlanders 
are rapidly blending in intermarriages of which the 
cross could scarcely have been more scientifically 
chosen, and which are producing a race of the 
highest intellectual organization. 

The Celts must now be briefly considered, in or- 
der to compare these with the Lowlanders, and 
both with the Saxon English and other tribes, and 
to understand the mamier in which their united 
character dominates over these. 

The Celts of the Highlands exist in greatest pu- 
rity in their western parts, and equal perhaps in 
number the rest of the Highland population, on 
which consequently they have generally bestowed 
their manners, their language, and their dress. 

conceit ; friendly, kind, and just ; this may be considered as 
the moral portrait of such part of the Scotch as are not so- 
phisticated or spoiled by a communication with their southern 
neighbours." 



TO THE ENGLISH, ETC. 139 

These Highlanders are of middle size, well formed 
and active, of brown complexion, grey irides, and 
dark hair, and of rather broad face, rather low 7 
but well-marked forehead, and head long in the 
horizontal direction. 

In his walk, the Highlander, owing to the 
strength of his limbs, advances with somewhat of 
a springy motion, which is easily distinguished. 

The mental faculties of the Highlander are also 
of a high order, being sensibility, imagination, pas- 
sion — the latter two being precisely those in which 
the Lowlander is deficient. This intellectual char- 
acter, though directly opposed to that of the En- 
glishman, is scarcely legs homogeneous and simple. 
— The character of the Lowlander stands, in some 
measure, between the two ; conforming in this re- 
spect with his geographical position. 

The sensibility of the Highlander is the founda- 
tion of that extreme irritability by which he is dis- 
tinguished, and in a great measure also of that 
sentiment which is so remarkable, not merely in his 
language, his poetry, and his music, but as the 
basis of most of his actions in life. 



140 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

The imagination of the Highlander creates his 
poetry — that high imagining which his Highland 
mother gave to Byron, and which has now for ever 
blotted out nearly all the dull formalities of En- 
glish poetry, — that genius too, equally high and 
wild, which wastes itself in the northern magazine, 
and which every month shows how unnecessary is 
the dull measure and the silly tag of verse. It cre- 
ates also that spirit of adventure which carries the 
Highlander over every region of the earth. 

The passion of the Highlander is equally evi- 
denced in the devotedness of attachment and the 
fury of war, — the invincibles of France beaten on 
the sands of Egypt, the ramparts of Spain scaled as 
if these were their native rocks, equally innocent 
of foes and fire, the line of Waterloo broken to 
the shout of " Scotland for ever!" — But all Eu- 
rope has witnessed their daring, and their enemies 
have paid them the tribute of admiration. It is 
unnecessary to say, that urbanity, warm-hearted- 
ness, and hospitality, strongly characterize the 
Scottish Highlander. 

It must now be obvious why I have said, that 



TO THE ENGLISH, ETC. 141 

no intermarriage or cross could have been more sci- 
entifically chosen than between the discrimination 
and prudence of the Northman, and the imagination 
and passion of the Celt, and how inevitably this is 
producing in Scotland a race of the very highest 
mental organization — a nation which, as Scott ob- 
serves, is " proverbially patient of labour and 
prodigal of life." 

Thus, also, is understood, not merely the relation 
between these two characters — each needing the 
other's aid, and neither entirely dominating, but 
why unitedly they triumph o ver every other tribe, 
and very easily over the Saxon, as a moment's com- 
parison will show. 

Amid such a population, the broad, round, and 
ruddy face of the Englishman is discerned even by 
children in the streets, as is the large trunk of the 
body, the deeper tone of voice arising from the ex- 
tent of the vital cavities, the roll upon the centre 
of the stomach rather than of the head, the look of 
satisfaction with the state of the former rather than 
of the latter, the absence of every trace of deep 
thought, &c. All these qualities, so opposite to 



142 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

those of the Scottish, enable their vulgar to hail the 
Englishman with as unerring a certainty, and as 
satisfied a superiority, as constitutes a return for 
the dislike, and even fear, with which they are 
sometimes received in England. 

Amid the more active Scottish qualities, the 
shallow reasoning, or the want of reasoning, of the 
Englishman, would be despised, and his cold, un- 
imaginative, and unimpassioned character would be 
scorned ; while the absence of all dash or spirit in 
his conversation, even when literary, — his choice of 
words, and their loud, confident, and emphatical pro- 
nunciation, to express nothing, — his fear to say any 
thing at all uncommon, or that had not been said be- 
fore, — and his resource in strong, formal, slow, and 
serious declarations of some matter of fact, as " the 

— very extraordinary — satisfaction — which he re- 
ceived from the — most — uncommon — -excellence 

— and really — admirable — style — of a dinner — 
at Lord — — — 's, where he had the honour of 
meeting/' &c. &c. ; or, if he be above this, in equally 
strong, formal, slow, and serious accounts of the 
qualities jf a particular wine, the intermarriages of 



OF THE ENGLISH, ETC. 



143 



particular families, the amount of the fortune of 
each of their members, and such-like wretched 
trash — the " ne plus ultra" of observation and 
weak-mindedness ; — all these, despised, scorned, 
neglected, would in Scotland finally compel the 
English to merge in the Scottish character. # 

How fortunate, however, the blending of this 
compound Scottish with the simpler Saxon charac- 

* Lest this representation should be deemed inaccurate, an 
unquestionable illustration may be taken from a truly En- 
glish writer, Dr. Johnson, " many of whose Ramblers/' as 
Scott observes, " are little better than a sort of pageant, where 
trite and obvious maxims are made to swagger in lofty and 
majestic language, and get some credit because they are not 
easily understood." Boswell tells us, that he (Johnson) gave 
Sir Joshua Reynolds the following account of its (the Ram- 
bler's) getting its name : " What must be done, Sir, will be 
done. When I was to begin publishing that paper, I was at 
a loss how to name it. I sat down at night upon my bed- 
side, and resolved that I would not go to sleep till I had 
fixed its title. The Rambler seemed the best that occurred, 
and I took it." This presents the usual number of words 
about a matter of no general, and of very small personal interest. 
Its amount is, that " he called it the Rambler, because it was 
the best title that occurred to him within the limited time 
which he was pleased to allow himself for the decision of this 
point :" — in other words, he called it the Rambler, because 
it pleased him to call it the Rambler. 



144 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

ter, cannot for a moment be questioned. The more 
capacious forehead and calmer observation of the 
latter, become combined with the higher reasoning, 
imaginative, and impassioned powers of the former. 
This is often exemplified in the Scottish cross with 
the Lowland Scottish Saxon; and that union of 
observation with some of the higher faculties which 
distinguished Sir Walter Scott, is a striking ex- 
ample of its benefits. 

IRISH CHARACTER. 

Of the Irish character, the great basis has been 
already described in the Celt of Ireland — being, in 
organization, mind, language, &c, only a little less 
pure than he of the Highlands. They are similarly 
distinguished by sensibility, imagination, and pas- 
sion ; and repetition on this subject is unnecessary. 

Unfortunately, the domination of the original 
Celt over Irish character is modified chiefly by that 
of the subsequent Milesian, whose large and dark 
eye, high and sharp nose, thin lips, and linear 
mouth, declare his southern origin more surely than 
Irish history or Irish fable. 



OF THE ENGLISH, ETC. 145 

Consistently with this organization, the Milesian 
adds the vivacity and wit, the love of splendour 
and want of taste, the voluptuousness and licence 
of the south, to the sensibility, imagination, and 
passion of the aboriginal population of Ireland, 
Owing to this and illustrating it, Celtic music, 
which, in the Highlands of Scotland, is wild, 
grand, and melancholy, has become, in Ireland, 
more gay and voluptuous. 

It is scarcely possible, however, to conceive a 
cross capable of conferring so little benefit on either, 
as that of the original Celt and Milesian* 

The intellectual organization of the Irish people 
has thus more resemblance to that of the south, 
than to that of the north of Europe. It confers 
imagination and passion in a far higher degree than 
reasoning and judgment. 

With such intellectual organization, it is easy to 
foresee the kind of moral character which must 
mark the nation. Such a people must naturally be 
much less distinguished in the discrimination of 
good and ill, and the calm and patient discharge of 
duty, than in the love of friends and the hatred of 

H 



146 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

foes, or in the devotion even unto death, to any 
cause which they may espouse. 

Now, to the guidance of a people possessing such 
capabilities, it is obvious that knowledge is pecu- 
liarly necessary. With principles of high activity, 
there must be knowledge to direct. 

Unfortunately, however, these very capabilities, 
and that high activity, are at variance with patient 
investigation and the means of knowledge. Such 
qualities, indeed, act as it were by intuition, and no 
more brook delay than the electric spark in its pas- 
sage through the air. The results must as neces- 
sarily be brilliant and striking in the moral act as 
in the physical illustration ; but they may indiffer- 
ently be good or ill; they may rouse the torpid 
current of life and pleasure, or they may wither 
and destroy. 

Among such a people, it is evident, that when, 
owing to Saxon and Scandinavian intermarriages/ 
calmer observation and reasoning powers are added 
to those high capabilities, so essential to all genius, 
the result must be such characters as Ireland has 
occasionally produced. It is not less evident, 



TO THE ENGLISH, ETC. 147 

however, that such characters will be comparatively 
rare, and that the mass of the people will too often 
add fierce barbarity and superstitious bigotry to 
the grossest ignorance. 

In Ireland, accordingly, when the people are ex- 
cited by private or public hatreds (for this is as 
often independent as dependent on religious and 
political differences) crimes at once the most brutal 
and the most cowardly are perpetrated, without the 
slightest compunction ; robberies, burnings, tortures, 
and assassinations, are the commonest means of 
vengeance ; and I am warranted in saying, that, 
no where in Europe, may be seen such a complica- 
tion of ferocity and crime. 

To sum up this view of English, Scottish, and 
Irish character, I may observe that sincerity and 
independence distinguish the English ; intelligence 
and sagacity, the Scottish ; and a gay and gallant 
spirit, the Irish. The best qualities, however, are 
apt to associate with bad ones. The independence 
of the English sometimes degenerates into coarse- 
ness and brutality; the sagacity of the Scottish, 

h2 



148 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

into cunning and time-serving ; and the gaiety of 
the Irish, into fickleness and faithlessness. Could 
we combine the independence of the English, with 
the sagacity of the Scottish, and with the gallantry 
of the Irish, we should form almost a God. Could 
we, on the contrary, unite the brutality of the first? 
with the cunning of the second, and with the faith- 
lessness of the third, we should form a demon. 

Section II. — The French. 
In France, I observe various forms of face, — the 
Celtic, now so often mentioned, which seems to be 
the most universal, — the Frank, which is still most 
abundant on the German side of France, and which 
combines the cold features of the German with the 
sharpness of the Gaul, forming a round, compressed, 
and hard physiognomy, — and the Gallo-Spanish or 
Gallo-Italian of the south, which unites the warm 
features of the transmontane people with the quick- 
ness of the purer Celt. — The influence of the long 
and narrow Celtic head and the intensity of its 
functions will be found generally illustrated in the 
following 



TO THE FRENCH, 



149 



CHARACTER OF THE FRENCH. 

The intellectual organization and character of the 
French, is one of the simplest and most homoge- 
neous in Europe. Quick sensibility, superficial 
observation, clever thinking, and vivid passion, at 
once agree, and easily account for, whatever we 
observe in the character of this people. 

From quick sensibility, more or less excited by 
passion, should spring love of novelty and of va- 
riety. Certain it is, that Csesar could not have 
more accurately characterised the French of the 
present day, than by the " cupidi novarum rerum" 
which he applied to their ancestors. It is not ne- 
cessary either to vindicate or to illustrate the justice 
of this fundamental characteristic ; it is acknow- 
ledged by the French themselves. 

The rapid pursuit of novelty and of variety must 
as inevitably produce levity, inconstancy, and 
fickleness ; and these circumstances are so well 
known in the character of the French, as not to 
admit of dispute. 

By such elements, moreover, it is obvious, that 



150 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

the more advanced intellectual processes must be 
proportionally affected. Hence, observation should 
be superficial, careless, and irregular. Hence, rea- 
soning should be clever, shallow and inconsistent. 

It is, in fact, owing to this, that, though the 
French display very extensively respect for science 
and ardour in its pursuit, French works are in gene- 
ral less to be trusted to than English and German 
ones ; while, at the same time, owing to another 
faculty of French mind, they set out with, and 
maintain, incomparably higher pretensions, — and 
that, with such plausibility, that the reader goes 
eagerly on in expectation of great things, — and it is 
not till he has closed the volume, that he begins to 
find out, first, that the work does not contain quite 
so much as he expected, and, next, that it would 
be difficult to say what precise addition he has made 
to his knowledge by reading it ! 

It is equally owing to this, that, in the arts, while 
French productions display resource, ingenuity, and 
dexterity, they, at the same time, shew a striking 
want of the sense of fitness, and are unfinished and 
flimsy. Such, in the cities of France, is remark- 



TO THE FRENCH. 151 

ably the case with whatever regards furniture and 
decoration, while the productions of cookery are at 
once impregnated with filth, and admirably calcu- 
lated to conceal it. In the country, again, with a 
climate superior to that of England, there is every 
where to be seen open fields, later harvests, corn full 
of weeds, and inferior grain. 

I have said, that, with this quick sensibility and 
clever thinking, the passions are vivid ; and this 
leads to the portion of French character which, 
if not the most important, is at least the most 
striking. 

It is evident, that, under these circumstances, 
the gratifications of the passions will be as numerous 
as quick sensibility, and as ingenious as clever 
thinking, can procure them. All of them, however, 
may be reduced to the following heads — the gratifi- 
cations that are inherent in this temperament itself, 
and those which it can derive from external sympa- 
thy and approbation — from vanity. 

As to the first of these gratifications, the French 
derive from their own temperament the most amiable 
cheerfulness and gaiety, as well as love of amuse- 



152 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

ment ; and it is under this category, that should be 
noticed that taste which they every where and so 
honourably shew for the elegances of sculpture and 
painting. 

It is chiefly from this gaiety and the cleverness 
already alluded to, that spring the wit and light 
satire of the French, which place the works of the 
admirable Voltaire, Le Sage, &c. above all rivalry, 
and which have done quite as much as the homilies 
of other nations to enlighten and polish society, and 
far more to emancipate it from religious and po- 
litical slavery. 

The gratification derived from vanity is the most 
conspicuous of all French indulgences. In such a 
temperament as the French, this involves also many 
corresponding consequences. 

Vanity thus implies the consciousness of being 
observed, and it requires display and noise, theatri- 
cal confidence and pretension. Accordingly, no 
class of Frenchmen are exempt from these. 

To take the lowest class. — Who has not, even 
on entering France, seen one driver of the diligence 
draw up his naked, dirty, and perhaps wet limbs, 



TO THE FRENCH. 153 

from the monstrous jack boots of the establishment, 
that another might introduce his in similar condi- 
tion, while both, however, wore an embroidered 
jacket and an artificial queue, and had perhaps a 
pocketful of flour to strew over his head before en- 
tering a village, where the incessant cric-crac of his 
whip was sure to call out the rustic damsels? 

To take a higher class. — Who has ever observed 
two Frenchmen talk for a moment, even in the pub- 
lic streets, of whom each did not theatrically adjust 
himself so as to appear to the utmost advantage to 
every eye that could overlook him? This theatrical 
adjustment accompanies a Frenchman through life; 
and I verily believe, that no Frenchman, even at the 
foot of the gallows, or with the rope round his neck, 
ever forgot the previous adjustment of his toes, ac- 
companied by a " soupir pour son amie," or "pour 
sa patrie." 

Most English and Scottish gentlemen (I speak 
not of the Irish, as they have a taste for female ugli- 
ness) — most English gentlemen, who are above be- 
ing taken by superficial pretension, are aware of 
the almost universal ugliness of Frenchwomen— 

h5 



154 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

the hard, sharp, and wrinkled face, the greenish 
dark complexion, the hair on the upper lip, the 
hoarse voice, the almost bestial expansion of the 
lower ribs to contain enormous viscera. Now, the 
combination of this with extreme vanity, elicits the 
most curious consequences. Instead of moderating 
affectation, it only inspires a desperate ingenuity in 
the invention of new fashions ; for, of these, this 
strange combination of circumstances is the real 
origin, # 

Even the mode of walking in France, has more 
than one relation to vanity — not merely because 
the rise on the toes, the writhing of the figure, and 
the paralytic shake of every member, are inspired 
by that sentiment, but because being, from a cu- 
rious and accidental circumstance, the very worst 
mode of walking, it is vainly vaunted as the most 

* The difference between French and English taste in dress, 
is very remarkable. Even when English women take a hint 
from French contrivances, they endeavour to be more natural, 
modest, and classical. As to male dress, an English gentle- 
man always desires his tailor to avoid the extremes of fashion ; 
and, as his dress is grave and manly, it is generally followed 
throughout Europe, 



TO THE FRENCH. 155 

graceful ; while the women of France reprobate the 
natural walk of those of England as masculine or 
military, because in progression the foot is thrown 
directly forward, instead of being curiously drawn 
upward, &c. &c. This being a point of some 
interest to ladies, I beg to illustrate it at some 
length. 

Having been acquainted with an old French gen- 
tleman in England, and being afterwards on a visit 
to Paris, I one day thought I saw him approaching 
the hotel where I happened to reside. A certain 
gait and air, which I had not hitherto analyzed, 
convinced me I was right; and I expressed my 
satisfaction on this account to the friend who was 
beside me at the time, and who similarly recognised 
and expected him. We w T ere disappointed, how- 
ever, as he did not call. This disappointment 
occurred again and again, until we began to suspect 
and at last actually discovered, that there were 
Several old gentlemen in Paris who had a similar 
gait and air. 

This struck me as odd enough ; but still no rea- 
son for it occurred to me. Going, however, one 



156 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

day to a considerable distance through the streets 
of Paris, to see some troops arriving from Spain, 
and walking, as the British generally walk, without 
much regard to the inequalities of the pavement, I 
found, on my return, that I was unaccountably fa- 
tigued. A little reflection led me to the cause of 
this, in the extraordinary irregularity of the Parisian 
pavement ; for the stones being large, worn away on 
every side and prominent in the middle, every step 
I had taken, falling sometimes high and sometimes 
low, had shaken me in such a way, that, though I 
did not much observe it at the time, its effects were 
very perceptible. 

I now began to imagine, that all this might have 
something to do with the peculiar walk and air of 
my old friend ; and, on looking more closely, I 
thought I could see that almost all old gentlemen, 
as well as old ladies, and even many young ones, 
had some degree of the very same peculiarity. This 
I now suspected to result from some contrivance on 
their part to obviate the inconveniences arising from 
the irregularity of the pavement. 

Observing, now, with additional care, I at once 



TO THE FRENCH. 157 

found my suspicion completely verified, and was 
able to detect the contrivance employed. 

This commences by picking the steps. In order 
to do this in the best manner, it is necessaiy to pick 
only with one foot, that is, to advance always the 
same foot, and let the other follow it up. If one 
attempt, on the contrary, to pick with both feet, 
it causes a considerable rotating of the body, 
which, in a long walk so performed, becomes fa- 
tiguing. The Parisians accordingly pick with the 
stronger — the right foot. 

A little reflection will shew, that, in thus picking 
with one foot, they must not only turn the right 
toe proportionally in, but must turn the whole of 
the right side proportionally forward, and in some 
measure advance laterally. 

Even this, however, is not enough : as the hollows 
between the projecting centres of the stones are con- 
siderable, and as these are generally filled with mud, 
it is necessary to avoid bespattering oneself. This, 
the Parisians effect by holding the knee and ankle 
joints slightly bent, but rather stiff, while they 
spring, slightly sideways, from one stone to another. 



158 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

Nothing can be more amusing than this mode of 
progression, when one is once prepared to observe 
it. The reader may easily figure to himself a party 
setting out in this way, — all having the right leg 
advancing, the right toe turned in, and the right 
side turned forward, — all having the knee and 
ankle joints slightly bent, but rather stiff, and in a 
sort of springy state, — and all advancing in some 
measure, sideways, — but, owing to the different 
length of limb, some seeming to hop, and others to 
hobble along. It is really a good deal like the 
walking of birds. 

The effect of this habitual mode of progression 
is such, that, in old persons, the whole body seems 
irremediably twisted, and the stiffer woollen clothes 
of the man evidently partake of this twist j the 
right side of the neck of the coat is brought quite 
in front, and even the hat has always corresponding, 
but curious and indescribable curves. So irre- 
trievably is every thing impressed with this twist, 
that one would almost imagine that the clothes, if 
detached from the owner, would by some sort of 
instinct stand in the owner's attitude. 



TO THE FRENCH. 159 

This, then, is the Parisian mode of walking, 
which is so highly vaunted by the French, which 
French vanity has converted into an exquisite ac- 
complishment, and which all who have not had the 
felicity of being born in Paris, may despair of even 
imitating ! 

French dancing is equally connected with vanity. 
It has the mere merit of clever execution, and stands 
in the same relation to some Neapolitan and Anda- 
lusian dancing, that German arithmetical harmony 
does to graceful Italian melody. French dancing, 
in short, is destitute of feeling and expression. You 
perpetually discover in it the lateral twist and the 
sideway hop of their street-walking, accompanied 
only with a languishing bend of the neck in the op- 
posite direction, and an affected elevation and flex- 
ure of the arm, — and these, like all other attitudes, 
stifly and invariably reproduced in precisely the 
same parts of the figure, till at last you can infalli- 
bly predict their assumption, and are disgusted by 
their formality and sameness. In every thing, in- 
deed, French elegance and grace are full of man- 
nerism. 



160 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

All these, however, are the most innocent effects 
of vanity, which cannot be thus always gratified 
without interfering with the convenience, the plea- 
sure, or the tastes of others. Vanity sometimes re- 
quires familiarity ; and, while blunting the sense 
of propriety, it produces boasting, impertinence, in- 
delicacy. 

This, joined to preceding causes, induces the sa- 
crifice of every thing for exhibition, and gives a 
character of contradictiveness to the exhibition it- 
self. Hence, in every case, the mixture of dirt and 
meanness with expense and splendour. 

Hence, the French have no idea of retirement. 
Hence, their bedrooms are made to receive com- 
pany. Hence, on ordinary occasions, the lady will 
dress behind the curtain of the bed, while a gentle- 
man sitting in the room can easily tell every thing 
she is performing ; and hence, while the day of fete 
exhibits the walls festooned with roses, and a dra- 
pery of silk or lace thrown over the beds, the clumsy 
deal table may make a ludicrous contrast with the 
former, and the discoloured bed-linen a disgusting 
one with the latter. 



TO THE FRENCH. 161 

To this cause, must also be ascribed the number 
of restaurateurs, cafes, literary societies, institutes, 
libraries, and museums in the capital of France, as 
well as the splendour of their establishments, and 
the dirty passages and scenes you must often en- 
counter to enter them. Hence too, even in their 
finest theatres, the passages to the boxes present 
dirty and cracked pavements of brick, and their doors 
are opened by a few such old women as may be seen 
gathering stones or weeds from a field in England. 

Who, in fine, is ignorant that this vanity, if it 
can but gain a decoration or trifling favour, easily 
bribes one fourth of the population of France to be 
spies over the rest, so that the porters of every 
house, and almost every servant in it, are in the 
pay of the police ? M. Benjamin Constant, indeed, 
informed the writer, that every servant in his house 
was in that pay ; and that he happened then to 
have learned the sum his coachman received, but 
that he should not change him, as he might get a 
worse, and had little chance of getting a better. 

Vanity, in fact, is forgot in France only when 
the natural voracity of the people predominates 
f h 9 



162 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

The dinner scene is one of absolute horror; and! 
nothing is, perhaps, more ridiculous than that^ 
while Frenchmen are astonished at the cleanliness 
and elegance with which Englishmen eat, a recent 
writer should have affected to instruct his country- 
men to imitate the utter confusion, the awkward- 
ness, and the dirtiness of a French dinner. # 

* The French use of forks, napkins^ &c. really requires- 
some notice. A French gentleman, in adjusting himself at 
his deal table and shabby cloth, does not hesitate to fix a 
napkin about his neck, in such a manner as to protect his 
clothes in front against the certainty of being bespattered by 
his mode of eating. An Englishman of the middle class would 
be ashamed of such a contrivance : for without any particular 
care, he eats so as not even to stain the damask cloth with 
which his mahogany table is covered. The French gentle- 
man is perpetually wiping his dirty ringers on a napkin 
spread out before him, of which the beauties are not invi- 
sible to his neighbours on each side. The Englishman of the 
middle class requires no napkin, because his fingers are never 
soiled. The French gentleman, incapable of raising his left 
hand properly to his mouth, first hastily hacks his meat into 
fragments, then throws down his dirty knife on the cloth, and 
seizing the fork in his right hand, while his left fixes a mass 
of bread on his plate, runs up each fragment against it, and 
having eaten these, wipes up his plate with the bread, and 
swallows it. An English peasant would blush at such besti- 
ality. A French gentleman not only washes his filthy hands 
at table, but, after gulping a mouthful, and using it as a 



OF THE FRENCH. 



163 



It is not, however, on this occasion only, that 
French dirtiness is remarkable. As to egesta as 
well as ingesta, they seem, both in speech and 
practice, to cultivate a familiarity with nastiness. 
A Frenchwoman will unscrupulously describe the 
state of her secretions and excretions, in such a way 
as to make an Englishman blush, or to shock and 
disgust him. 

But I have done with the subject of vanity. Re- 
flection will show, that this sentiment cannot pro- 
cure its gratification, without granting something 
in return. It is politeness, accordingly, which in 
France, is the price paid for this indulgence. It, 

gargle, squirts it into the basin standing before him and the 
company, who may see the charybdis or maelstrom he has 
made in it, and the floating filth he has discharged, and which 
is now whirling in its vortex. In England, this practice is 
unknown, except to those whose tastes and stomachs are too 
strong for offence. It has been stupidly borrowed from the 
Oriental nations, who use no knives and forks, and where, 
though it has this apology, it has always excited the disgust of 
enlightened travellers. When dinner is over, the English- 
man's carpet is as clean as before : the Frenchman's bare 
boards resemble those of a hog-stye. In short, in all that re- 
gards the table, the French are some centuries behind the 
English. 



164 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

thus, happily produces some good effects. The 
lower classes in France are, in consequence, 
surprisingly polished and conversable ; and the 
dirty carter, or the ragged porter, if a barrow- 
woman or basket-woman stand in his way, per- 
mitting no haste to derange the most scrupulous 
punctilio, will lift his cocked hat, and solicit the 
honour of being permitted to pass. 

By some, it has been said, that the politeness of 
the French is carried at times 6 to excess f while 
others contend, that it is far better this should 
be the case, than that there should exist the brutal 
behaviour which is often exhibited by the lowest 
classes in England. I should be inclined less scru- 
pulously to agree with the latter, but for the fol- 
lowing considerations. 

The forms of politeness are intended as the signs 
of respectful and benevolent feeling. It is evi- 
dently worse that the sign should exist without the 
feeling, than the feeling without the sign. Real 
politeness, indeed, may be said to consist in doing 
that which forms profess. Now, in this respect, 
the English are indisputably superior : they do 



TO THE FRENCH, 165 

more, and say less. In France, on the contrary, 
saying is a substitute for doing ; and doing is un- 
necessary. There is, there, an eternal divorce be- 
tween external signs and internal feelings. As- 
suredly, there can be no state of manners less fa- 
vourable to candour and generosity. 

The same observations apply to the perpetual 
affectation of sentiment in France, where its reality 
has the slenderest possible existence. 

So much for politeness as the price paid for the 
indulgence of vanity among men generally con- 
sidered. — A similar arrangement, or tariff, is en- 
tered into between the sexes. I fear I must con- 
sider their mutual indulgence in France chiefly in 
this light ; for, however women may be the objects 
of gallantry in that country, the confidence is not 
more remarkable than the carelessness with which 
they are treated in the most essential particulars. 

As to food, women in England live in all re- 
spects as well as men, and the indulgence of their 
taste is an object of much consideration. In France, 
on the contrary, the husband daily walks to the 
restaurateur's, and regales himself as well as he 



166 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

can ; but if meanwhile you enter his house, you 
may probably find his wife and children dining on 
a little soup made of lard and vegetables, or a few 
cakes toasted on the stove, and a glass of sour 
wine mixed with water. The house indeed con- 
tains few articles fit either for cooking or present- 
ing a dinner. As a reward, however, for the wife's 
domestic duties, she is perhaps indulged with a 
dinner at the restaurateur's on a Sunday. 

As to clothing, women in England are generally 
better dressed than men ; and one is perpetually 
struck by observing, even among the lowest class, 
very common-looking men accompanied by good- 
looking, cleanly, and well-dressed women. In 
France, on the contrary, one is often surprised to 
see gentlemen walking arm in arm with women 
whom, from their sombre, but in colour strongly 
contrasted, and therefore dirt-concealing, woollen 
dresses, one takes to be their servants. As a re- 
ward also for this sort of privation, the wife is in- 
dulged with a gauze dress covered with tinsel, 
such as our itinerant actresses display at a fair, 
with which she occasionally appears at an evening 



TO THE FRENCH, 167 

party. In England, the identity of a woman of 
any rank may at all hours be discovered by her 
external appearance. In France, this is scarcely 
possible : she passes from the dinginess and dir- 
tiness of a grub during the day, not through any 
intermediate state, but at once, to the glitter and 
glare of a butterfly at night. 

Notwithstanding all this, the liberty of French- 
women is highly favourable to virtue. There is, in 
France, none of that cunning cant of male mora- 
lity, the falsehood and impertinence of which are 
perpetual bribes to the outwitting of it. There 
is, there, none of that base scandal which is 
thus brought into being by men, and which every 
woman is ready to pour out upon each, in all its 
bitterness and malignity. There, the attentions of 
gallantry necessarily occupy the time, and conse- 
quently take the place of licentious indulgence. 
There, the relation of the sexes is as free as the 
most enlightened and the most generous could 
wish. 

I make this declaration in face of vulgar En- 
glish prejudice, not only because justice demands 



168 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

it, but because it is a proof, that, however severe 
some of the preceding strictures, they are founded 
on the long-continued observation, and the entire 
conviction, of the writer. 

In England, on the contrary, the condition of 
women is most unfavourable to virtue. Enlight- 
ened travellers universally agree, that the brevity, 
the coarseness, and the success of love-making, is 
everywhere in proportion to the restraints imposed 
upon it : it is shorter in England than in France ; 
and rather shorter in Turkey than in England. In 
the former, bolts and black eunuchs, — and in the 
latter, male cant and female scandal, — are thus 
perpetual excitements to vice. — Nothing, indeed, 
but — the innate virtue of English women could 
resist them. 

There was a time when English women laughed 
at the old Spanish duenna. Is it not barely pos- 
sible, that Spanish women may now laugh at the 
stout young fellow, armed with a cane, who walks 
after every English woman of fashion ? This is so 
pompous an appendage, that the innocents have all 
in succession found it quite indispensable ; and 



TO THE FRENCH. 169 

some of them, it is now said, reluctantly occupy 
the prison of which they have suffered or sought 
the erection. I verily believe, that an English 
Boccaccio might make as much of the devices of 
our modem dames to get rid of their armed attend- 
ant, his mounting guard at one door of Waterloo 
or Trafalgar House, while the lady has retired by 
another — to take him up, however, in returning 
an hour or two afterwards, &c. &c. as ever that 
great Italian did in regard to the descendants of 
the Lucretias and Virginias. — But as we said be- 
fore, the — innate virtue of English women will 
always afford sufficient assurance of their in- 
nocence. 

One final trait of French character we have yet 
to notice : it is the necessary consequence of some 
which precede. — I have said, that, in France, the 
gratifications of the passions are as numerous as 
quick sensibility, and as ingenious as clever think- 
ing, can procure. But, if the love of pleasure be 
excessive, the desire of its means is likely to be 
considerable. The French are accordingly parsi- 
monious, or rather their rapacity and their gripe is 

i 



170 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

such, when added to their fickleness and incon- 
stancy, as to account fully for those instances of 
regardlessness, profligacy, want of honour, perfidy, 
destitution of public principle, and all those oppo- 
site follies and crimes, which have shocked every 
other nation during the last forty years. It is a 
point, however, of favourable contrast between the 
French and English, that the former respect no 
man for his money alone ; while, in England, there 
is no degree of ignorance and intellectual degrada- 
tion that may not be rendered respectable by cash. 

I conclude by observing, that French character 
has lately been undergoing a vast improvement, 
because its sensibility, cleverness, and passion have 
for some time been directed by far more extensive 
knowledge and to far nobler purposes. It has its 
reward in taking the lead in the career of conti- 
nental freedom, grandeur, and happiness. 

Section III. — The Germans. 
With Germany, I am little acquainted ; and I 
shall therefore speak especially of the German 
Goths, who chiefly confer the national character, 



TO THE GERMANS. 171 

and whom I have had most opportunity of ob- 
serving. 

These people are of moderate stature, and fair 
complexion, and have broad and short heads, hair of 
some shade of flaxen, yellow, or brown, grey eyes 
placed considerably apart, noses generally low at 
the root, and angular jaws. 

The influence of the broad and short Gothic 
head and the permanence of its functions will be 
found generally illustrated in the character of the 
Germans, of which I cannot give a better notion 
than by contrasting 

GREEK AND GOTHIC ART, ETC. 

It is sufficiently evident, that most nations differ 
in general character, and that each of their par- 
ticular qualities is correspondingly modified. This 
character and these qualities can be known only 
by anthropological examination. 

The population of ancient Greece appears to 
have been composed of tribes which, both in origin 
and character, more or less resembled the Celtic 
ones. 



172 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

The population of Germany, though partially 
Sclavonic in the North and East, and partially 
Celtic in the South and West, is chiefly and fun- 
damentally Gothic. 

No event has so much influenced the science, the 
politics, and thejeligion of Europe, as the irruption 
of that race ; and if, in his view of these, M. D'A- 
lembert had had any anthropological knowledge, 
the Discours Preliminaire of the French Encyclo- 
pedic might have been something more than a piece 
of fine writing. That event, indeed, changed every 
thing in Europe, generally, though not always, for 
the best. 

As the most remarkable points in the Gothic cha- 
racter, so distinctly evidenced in Germany, have not 
been pointed out by any writer with whom I am 
acquainted, I shall briefly sketch them here ; and 
to render them the more intelligible, I shall contrast 
them with some points in the Greek character. 

A tendency to minuteness, detail, and compli- 
cation, is as characteristic of German, as a ten- 
dency to simplicity and grandeur was of Grecian, 
mind j and this will be found to influence and 



TO THE GERMANS. 173 

to harmonize with all its other faculties — secrecy, 
mysticism, &c. as well as to explain its mode of 
life, whether individual, domestic, civil, political, 
or religious. 

This fundamental circumstance, then, — this 
tendency to minuteness, detail, and complication, 
may be seen in every effort of German mind, the 
more obviously if compared with the corresponding 
efforts of Grecian mind. 

In architecture, the Greek temple is equally sim- 
ple as a whole and in its parts ; and such is its 
harmony, that, if even a fragment of it be seen, the 
whole maybe predicted. — The Gothic temple, # 
on the contrary, is complex in both respects — it is 
covered, I may almost say composed, of a tracery 
of such minuteness and complication as to be ab- 
solutely unparalleled, and, unlike the Greek tem- 
ple, that creature of genius which, if ever so small, 
would be grand from the art of its proportions, the 
Gothic temple is never grand but by the vulgar ex- 
pedient of general magnitude. 

* Whether Gothic originally or only by adoption, is of 
little consequence in the present view. 



174 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

In music, the Greeks, if we may judge from 
their poetry and all their arts, or from the Celtic 
music of the present day, possessed only a simple 
melody - — nay we are told, that they absolutely 
proscribed harmony as leading only to abuse, to 
a mistake of the means for the end — of the re- 
source of the instrument for the power of expres- 
sion. — German music, on the contrary, is a com- 
plicated harmony, in which all these mistakes are 
made — a sort of arithmetical music, or musical 
arithmetic, # an exhibition chiefly of instrumental 
power, which has no further influence over the heart 
or affections than in producing (its most suitable 
tribute) that false and unnatural grin which those 
who affect to understand and to be pleased with it, 
assume, and which is admirably contrasted with 
the natural expression of delight with which the 
same faces beam when a simple melody springs out 
of the nonsense and the horrors of the harmony. 

* The Germans are arithmetical even in all that regards the 
passions. " They add emphasis to their oaths," as a recent 
traveller has observed, " by numerical process ; and a hundred 
thousand million sacraments is the ordinary climax of rage." 



TO THE GERMANS. 175 

The language of Germany is peculiarly compli- 
cated in its structure ; and even its letters differ 
from the Greek only in being tortured into minute 
and complicated angles and hooks. 

German philosophy, instead of resembling the 
Greek, is a chaos of complication and confusion — 
a sort of drunken mysticism, which its authors 
sometimes, the German people seldom, and other 
Europeans never, understand, — which draws a veil 
between German and European mind, and almost 
cuts off Germany from European civilization. 

In regard to the manners of Germany, a traveller 
has observed, that society is filled with the complex 
relations of sentiment. This minuteness and com- 
plication is indeed intimately connected with the 
apathy by which the true German is distinguished, 
and is the very origin of his slowness and want of 
decision. 

Is it surprising, then, that that which affects the 
arts, the language, the science, and the manners of 
Germany, should affect its political and religious 
affairs ? Would it not, on the contrary, be anoma- 
lous and wonderful, if it were otherwise ? 



176 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

The political face of Germany is accordingly as 
minutely divided and as complicated as the German 
mind. Germany is parcelled out into petty states 
with every form of government, but the right one, 
and every complicated and jarring interest which 
imagination can conceive. 

Happily, this complication of political forms and 
political interests, prevents the yet greater predomi- 
nance of the very worst form and the worst inter- 
est. The jarring, however, of German political 
interests is rendered inert, not merely by the com- 
plication, but by the consequent slowness and 
indecision of German mind ; and, were it not for 
this constitution of mind, Germany would be the 
theatre first of war, as Greece was in ancient times, 
and ultimately of triumph over aristocratic op- 
pression.. 

Such also is the case with religion in Germany. 
The discords of popery and protestantism seem 
not unsuitable to the harmony of German religion. 
The diversity of religious opinions prevents the pre- 
dominance of any one opinion. Theories and 
creeds, moreover, evaporate in apathy and indeci- 



TO THE ITALIANS. 177 

sion in that country, which would excite civil ani- 
mosity and war in any other. 

Notwithstanding all this, however, as well as the 
total want of energy, Germany contains perhaps 
more knowledge than any other country in Europe. 

Section IV. — The Italians. 

In Italy, there is great difference both in nation- 
al features and national character. — The Milanese 
are more frank and open than the other Italians. — 
Of the Romans, the higher classes are said to be 
sensible, well-informed, and quick in thought, but 
selfish and distrustful ; and the beggars, sullen and 
insolent. — As to the Neapolitans, says Mr. Ga- 
liffe, if you accuse a native of any other part of 
Italy of endeavouring to cheat you, he immediately 
exclaims, non ce paura, non sono Napolitano. 

Of an ancient Roman scull in his possession, 
Blumenbach says, it has an external occipital pro- 
tuberance, broad and extremely projecting, " pro- 
tuberantia occipitalis externa latissima et ingenter 
eminens." I find this accord precisely with two 
Roman sculls in my possession. This indicates 

i 5 



178 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

the immense power of the passions among that 
people, and is quite conformable to history. 

Of the Italian character, I cannot give a better 
notion, or one more conformable with the preceding 
fact, than by the following 

COMPARISON OF THE MODERN WITH THE AN- 
CIENT ROMANS, 

Exaggerated notions of the moral and political 
grandeur of the ancient Romans have long exer- 
cised a most injurious influence over the minds of 
modern nations. , 

It is true, that the superiority of their arms and 
armour enabled the Romans to subdue and plun- 
der comparatively defenceless barbarians ; it is 
true, that the enormous disproportion of their mere 
physical force rendered it easy for them to over- 
whelm the Greeks ; but it is not less true, that 
even the superiority and success of their arms have 
been exaggerated by the innumerable falsehoods 
of their historians. It is also certain, that these 
historians, by assigning to their countrymen mo- 
tives of action which they never felt, and conduct 



TO THE ITALIANS. 179 

which they were incapable of following, have al- 
ways given the air of valour and virtue to mere 
cruelty and crime. Hence, Roman literature has 
produced most unfavourable effects on the imagi- 
nation, the taste, and the moral feeling of modern 
Europe. 

It is not a little remarkable, that the very litera- 
ture which has thus vindicated a system of the most 
dishonest and remorseless plunder, was itself one 
vast plagiarism from the Greeks. The coarse 
minds of the Romans could faintly apprehend, but 
were incapable of either fully feeling or strongly ex- 
pressing, the simplicity, the delicacy, and the dig- 
nity of Grecian thought : they therefore merely 
translated or copied it. Virgil, and Terence, and 
Cicero, were accordingly the feeble imitators of Ho- 
mer, and Menander, and Demosthenes. Their liter- 
ature was thus in admirable harmony with their 
moral and political character. 

Their fine arts corresponded. For these arts, in- 
deed, they had no taste \ but they could not resist the 
temptation to steal obelisks from Egypt, and statues 
from Greece, and marble columns from all countries; 



180 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

though these they never could adapt to their archi- 
tecture. In the avarice of plunder and possession, 
however, they crowded obelisks, statues, columns, 
palaces, and temples, into spaces unfit for their re- 
ception, and they imagined this accumulation to be 
the summit of grandeur. 

The literature and arts of Italy have, indeed, 
twice been renowned ; but, in both instances, they 
have been borrowed from the same illustrious peo- 
ple to whom European civilisation owes all it can 

boast. It was the Greeks who, on the fall of Con- 
stantinople, again introduced the arts into Italy, 
and gave a Grecian character to her sculpture, her 
painting, and her music. Rome, then, except as 
the plunderer of other nations, has never been more 
than Greece has made her. 

If, from such exaggerated notions, injury has 
arisen to the imagination, taste, and moral feeling 
of modern Europe, a still greater one has flowed 
from the neglect to compare the modern with the 
ancient Roman character thus duly appreciated. 
It would otherwise have been seen, that, just as 



TO THE ITALIANS. 181 

ancient nations submitted to the arms, modern ones 
submitted to the art, of Rome, exchanging merely 
the despotism of power for that of pretension — of 
force for fraud. 

No observation is perhaps at once more frequent 
and more false, than that the modern is utterly dif- 
ferent from the ancient Roman character. The re- 
verse is true. These differ no more from each other 
than the character of the thief does from that of 
the robber. The ancient or military Roman was a 
brave robber : the modern or priestly Roman is a 
cunning and cowardly thief. 

Even this trifling difference has arisen less from 
any change among the Romans themselves, than 
from the extraordinaiy change among the nations 
around them. The Gauls, the Britons, and the 
Germans, with an increase of wealth and all the 
invitations to plunder, have learnt the art of de- 
fending it; and the Roman must now cheat the 
civilized man, instead of plundering the savage. 

But let us contrast more minutely the modern 
with -the ancient Roman character, and we shall 



182 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

find that they have always had precisely the same 
objects in view, and have always employed precise- 
ly the same means of achieving them. 

The selfishness of the ancient Romans was cer- 
tainly the most striking, and I believe it will be 
found to be the most fundamental, trait in their 
character. With this, were associated that sullen- 
ness, moroseness, arrogance, and insolence, which 
are displayed in every page of their annals. 

The modern Romans (and I confine myself to 
these Italians, as the fairest illustration) strike 
every traveller as a pale, dull, sullen, dissatisfied, 
morose, arrogant, and insolent race. The lower 
classes rarely speak except to beg alms, which, 
when offered, they tear from the giver, without 
taking the trouble to thank him, or showing the 
slightest sign of satisfaction. The highest classes 
are remarkable for the same dull and dissatisfied 
appearance. " There is something in the sulky in- 
solence of the Romans," says Mr. Galiffe, " in their 
morose, ill-natured looks, — that puts one strongly 
in mind of what they were in the days of their 
prosperity." 



TO THE ITALIANS. 183 

Excessive regard for self is inseparable from dis- 
regard for others. The absence, or the extreme 
weakness, of individual or domestic affection was 
a striking characteristic of the ancient Romans ; 
for that is always a feeble faculty, over which 
others may triumph. Hence, sprang the sacrifice 
of the sons of Brutus, and many other acts w^hich 
have not been rightly understood ; and hence, more 
easily still, the innumerable acts of inhumanity 
which were the means of Roman wealth, pleasure, 
and power. 

The modern Romans have equally evinced this 
absence, or extreme weakness, of individual and 
domestic affection. I have heard of the wife of a 
Roman bandit, who, in the spirit of Roman virtue, 
stabbed her infant to the heart, to prevent its cries 
betraying the concealment of its father. Even the 
Romish religion bears hellish marks of this cha- 
racteristic. It is reserved for such Christianity 
alone, under the sanction of " God on earth," to 
mutilate male children in order to procure soprano 
singers for the chapel of the Pope, — as well as to 
excite every bestial passion in those who are unmu- 



184 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

tilated, by inflicting the law of celibacy on the 
clergy. This law could originate only among peo- 
ple in whom the domestic affections are absent or 
weak; and admirably has it, by insulating its 
agents from every foreign interest, served the pur- 
pose of modern Roman wealth, pleasure, and power, 
and enabled it, without compunction, to trample 
upon and to outrage humanity, in the inquisitional 
tortures and autos da fe, which beings thus destitute 
of affection could alone invent. # 

Let me add a few words as to the cruelty of the 
ancient Romans. — Slavery, in itself a proof of 
cruelty, having excited insurrections, they enacted 
a law declaring " that if any citizen were murdered 

* In the Neapolitan territory, corresponding characteristics 
are met with. A recent traveller tells us, that a a poor woman 
had expired of hunger in the middle of Toledo ; and I had 
seen several persons of her own sex, some of them very well 
dressed and evidently above the vulgar, pass by the corpse as 
coolly and as unmoved as if it had been that of a dead dog ! 
I cannot express how it cut me to the heart to see so much 
insensibility in that part of the human creation, whose soft- 
ness and sympathy is our only consolation under so many 
afflictions! I really believe that I should have been less 
shocked to see men savagely tearing each other to pieces !" 



TO THE ITALIANS. 185 

in his house, all his slaves should be put to death, 
on the pretence that they must have been accessa- 
ries, or they would have prevented it." — Their 
gladiatorial shows, the result of the most unnatural 
cruelty, were carried to a frightful extent. Csesar 
is said to have exhibited three hundred and twenty 
pairs of gladiators ; Vitellius to have had combats 
in all the streets of Rome ; and Claudius to have 
exhibited nineteen thousand malefactors and gladi- 
ators on one occasion. The exhibition of gladiators 
indeed was ever the best recommendation to the 
people, who are acknowledged to have expressed 
their pleasure at the flow of human blood by 
shrieks of joy and shouts of approbation. — Toward 
their prisoners, malignity was mixed with cruelty. 
It is well known that, after the storming of Car- 
thage, Scipio, one of the scoundrels held up to the 
admiration of our youth in schools, ordered the 
prisoners to be torn by wild beasts ; that, on oc- 
casion of triumphs, persons were hired cruelly to 
insult the miserable captives ; and that foreign 
kings, prisoners of war, were generally murdered 
by these monsters at the moment the consul as- 



186 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

cended the capitol. — As to cruelty and thirst for 
blood, indeed, the whole history of these people is 
worthy of the Ashantees ; and it would never have 
been thought better of, but for the, now happily de- 
tected, falsehood of their historians, and the inter- 
est which the aristocracy of all nations have felt in 
obtaining respect for their Roman prototypes. 

Now, the regard for self and disregard for others, 
which I have described, cannot possibly be che- 
rished without corresponding means. It is not 
candour, peace, and forgiveness, but cunning, con- 
tention, and revenge, which must achieve their 
purpose. 

Of the cunning of the ancient Romans, and of 
that of the modern ones, or even of Italians very 
generally, it is unnecessary to speak in detail. 
Every page of the history of the one, and every 
act of the life of the other, display it in the greatest 
perfection. 

Let me add also a few words as to the treachery 
of the ancient Romans. — Affecting private and 
personal faith, their cheats and frauds were always 
on a great and profitable scale. It has justly been 



TO THE ITALIANS. 187 

observed that they always quarrelled with rivals 
when it could benefit themselves ; that every peo- 
ple who once were their friends, ended by becoming 
their slaves ; and that, in every instance where in- 
terest clashed with honesty, they spurned the lat- 
ter. — When, says an excellent article in the The 
Westminster Review, we find a people incorporate, 
under the venerable name of priests, a joint-stock 
company of traders in faith and religion — who are 
regularly educated for the forgery of invoices to 
cover their fraudulent morality — a college of un- 
principled sophists, who, whether an unjust war is 
to be declared, a people to be robbed of its rights, 
a solemn treaty to be violated, or even a wife taken 
from her husband — with a comprehensive iniquity 
justify bad faith and violence in all these cases, by 
formulae of dexterous evasion, and prostitute the 
sacred name of religion with such effrontery that 
the fullness of indignation is choked with rage or 
degenerates into irony, — and when the first men 
of the state, canvass, bribe, and intrigue for admis- 
sion into this holy alliance of perfidy and deceit, — ■ 
we call that people faithless from system. 



188 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

The spirit of contention and pugnacity which 
distinguished the ancient Romans, is a natural con- 
sequence or accompaniment of the absence of 
natural affection. It is unnecessary to illustrate 
its existence among that people in the very highest 
degree, or to dwell here on its consequences. 

The modern Italians have lost none of the an- 
cient characteristic. Its illustration in modern, is 
nearly as unnecessary as in ancient times. Deeply 
as they detest their oppressors, they yet more 
deeply detest each other. There is scarcely a 
state or town of Italy which does not hate its 
neighbour, and there are few Italians who are free 
from envy of the fame, or hostility to the interests, 
of their countrymen. A difference in style or in 
taste is a cause of the bitterest contention and 
the most unmitigable hatred. The Roman priest- 
hood, in particular, literally composes a militant 
church. 

The revengeful spirit of the ancient Romans is 
so well known, that it would be pedantic to quote 
illustrations of it. 

The modern Romans are notorious for the dan- 



TO THE ITALIANS* 189 

gerous nature of their enmity. They brood over 
their injuries, we are informed, " with a degree of 
malice of which they would not be capable, if they 
thought they could easily avenge them ; and, as 
they are possessed of few ideas, that one passion 
which happens to take full possession of their minds, 
festers sooner or later into a crime." 

To attain their object, these dispositions require 
perseverance. Unyielding determination, in the 
ancient Romans, was naturally associated with the 
preceding characteristics, and it is equally un- 
necessary to illustrate its existence among that 
people, or to dwell on its consequences. 

The modern Romans have as unyieldingly per- 
severed as the ancients. If these, when Hannibal 
was at the gates of Rome, or the Gauls at the foot 
of the Capitol, abated not one jot of their demands, 
so neither has papal power yielded one item of its 
pretensions, and, at this very moment, it asserts 
the wildest of these as firmly as in the days of 
Gregory the Seventh. 

Now, the base passions I have enumerated, have 
been only those means of wealth, pleasure, and 



190 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

power, which have been equally employed by the 
ancient and the modern Romans. 

In regard to avarice, the ancient Roman charac- 
ter is marked by it from the first to the last. The 
first Romans were an association of robbers ; they 
never ceased to rob while a nation worth robbing 
was known to them, or could be reached by them ; 
their grandeur was the result of no science or art, 
but of robbery and crime alone; they fell only 
when the plundered nations, learning from them 
the use of arms, were able to take their own, and 
to leave the robbers in their original destitution. 

Substituting art for arms, and fraud for force, 
the modern Romans have availed themselves of all 
the ignorance, imbecility, and superstition of man- 
kind, to extract from them their wealth ; and they 
have done this far more easily, and not less effec- 
tually, than their ancestors did by the opposite 
means. By cunningly rendering every individual 
willingly tributary, they have for ages derived from 
many European states far greater revenues than 
those of their kings ; and if these revenues have 



TO THE ITALIANS. 191 

fallen off in one age or country, they have encreased 
in another. 

That voluptuousness, in its most extravagant 
excess, was peculiarly an ancient Roman vice, his- 
tory testifies. It was practised by the rich at the 
expence of humanity, honour, and decency ; and it 
was found by them to be the most effectual means 
of corrupting the poor, who eagerly sold for it their 
liberty. The long succession of their emperors 
displayed this vice in a degree that the world had 
never previously witnessed. 

The modern Romans have been not less remark- 
able for voluptuous indulgence. Italy has, in this 
respect, been the sink of Europe ; and Rome, the 
sink of Italy. The popes, it is especially remark- 
able, are the only princes of modern times who, in 
this respect, have rivalled the ancient emperors — 
if they have not actually excelled them. 

Power, by the ancient Romans, was directly 
attained : force was essential to their means of 
procuring wealth; and, from that, power was insepa- 
rable. By the force of arms, therefore, they sub- 



192 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

dued the nations ; and they exhibited their sove- 
reigns captive and in chains during their trium- 
phal processions. 

Incompatible as was this conduct with the spirit 
of Christianity, the priesthood of modern Rome has 
been unable to resist the native spirit even in its 
most extravagant acts. The Popes have placed their 
feet on the necks of kings, and subjected them to 
degradations as deep as ever the emperors inflicted. 

Such have been the objects equally of modern 
and of ancient Roman ambition — wealth, pleasure, 
and power, to an excess which has involved the 
ruin of all around them, and which Rome has ever 
exercised in defiance and in contempt of honesty, 
decency, and humanity. 

Such, in fine, is the perfect similarity of the an- 
cient and modern Roman character. The ancient 
or military Roman, as already said, was a brave 
robber ; the modern or priestly Roman is a cunning 
and a cowardly thief. This comparison, therefore, 
establishes the point I had in view — that, just as 
ancient nations submitted to the arms, modern ones 
have submitted to the art, of Rome, exchanging 



TO THE ITALIANS. 



193 



merely the despotism of power for that of preten- 
sion — of force for fraud. # 

* Mr. Hope has taken a somewhat similar view of the 
identity of character in the ancient and modern Greeks. — " The 
complexion of the modern Greek may receive a different cast 
from different surrounding objects : the core still is the same 
as in the days of Pericles, Credulity, versatility, and thirst of 
distinctions from the earliest periods formed, still form, and 
ever will continue to form, the basis of the Greek character ; 
and the dissimilarity in the external appearance of the nation 
arises, not from any radical change in its temper and disposi- 
tion, but only from the incidental variation in the means 
through which the same propensities are to be gratified. The 
ancient Greeks worshipped an hundred gods ; the modern 
Greeks adore as many saints. The ancient Greeks believed in 
oracles and prodigies, in incantations and spells ; the modern 
Greeks have faith in relics and miracles, in amulets and divi- 
nations. The ancient Greeks, brought rich offerings and gifts to 
the shrines of their deities, for the purpose of obtaining success 
in war, and pre-eminence in peace ; the modern Greeks hang 
up dirty rags round the sanctuaries of their saints, to shake off 
an ague or to propitiate a mistress. The former were staunch 
patriots at home, and subtle courtiers in Persia ; the latter 
defy the Turks in Mayna, and fawn upon them at the Fanar. 
Besides, was not every commonwealth of ancient Greece as 
much a prey to cabals and factions, as every community of 
modern Greece ? Does not every modern Greek preserve the 
same desire for supremacy, the same readiness to undermine 
by every means, fair or foul, his competitors, w T hich was dis- 
played by his ancestors ? Do not the Turks of the present 
day resemble the Romans of past ages, in their respect for 

K 



194 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES, ETC. 

Circumstances and events, however, will soon, 
I trust, direct Italian mind to nobler purposes ; 
and it will then make an advance which will com- 
pensate for previous degradation, for, owing to the 
blending of Italian, Greek and Gothic races, it is 
of high prospect and promise. 

the ingenuity, and, at the same time, in their contempt for the 
character of their Greek subjects ? And does the Greek of 
the Fanar show the least inferiority to the Greek of the 
Piraeus in quickness of perception, in fluency of tongue, and 
in fondness for quibbles, for disputation, and for sophistry? — 
Believe me, the very difference between the Greeks of time 
past, and of the present day, arises only from their thorough 
resemblance ; from that equal pliability of temper, and of 
faculties in both, which has ever made them receive with 
equal readiness the impression of every mould, and impulse 
of every agent. When patriotism, public spirit, and pre- 
eminence in arts, science, literature, and warfare were the road 
to distinction, the Greeks shone the first of patriots, of heroes, 
of painters, of poets, and of philosophers. Now that craft and 
subtlety, adulation and intrigue, are the only paths to great- 
ness, these same Greeks are — • what you see them ! " 



TMJE § C M © ©]LMAY § TJE M 



PabTislsd^j Sxoith^Eiasj: &C° Co:rnliill,Io.uaoix 



195 



CHAPTER VII. 

APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES TO PRO- 
FESSIONS, &C. 



The practice of every profession and trade influ- 
ences the countenance, so that under the effects of 
each, the most dissimilar countenances approximate 
more or less in certain respects. The cause is ob- 
vious. Every human pursuit is accompanied with 
a corresponding condition of mind which, when ha- 
bitual, must influence the features, and many pur- 
suits absolutely require an assumption at least of 
suitable expression which becomes ultimately fixed, 
and constitutes professional grimace. 

In this way, may we always distinguish the 
teacher, the physician, the lawyer, the parson, &c, 

k2 



196 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

from each other, quiet and noiseless trades, from 
turbulent and boisterous ones, &c. &c. — —In proof 
of this, I shall here give a few illustrations. 

The Teacher, especially of the young and trou- 
blesome, has so perpetually the smile of approba- 
tion and the frown of displeasure alternating in his 
face, that both become to certain extent fixed, and 
an arrangement of features is finally acquired, 
which may almost be supposed to serve both pur- 
poses at once, so as to save him all trouble of chang- 
ing [see Plate XIII.], and of which,at the same time, 
the somewhat mysterious and inscrutable character 
tends admirably to keep its objects upon the qui- 
vive. 

The Physician finds the look of profound know- 
ledge, of serious thought, of kind sympathy, and of 
accommodating pliability so essential to profes- 
sional success, that the assumption of their expres- 
sion peculiarly distinguishes him. Such, indeed, 
is his extreme pliability that the snake twining 
round the rod of Esculapius has been thought 
to be originally intended as a practical lesson 
for him. [See Plate XIV.] — But I will not 



TEL IE 



ublisOfiG- "by Smith. EL&er !cC? C ,Tr n~h iTI T.nn on 



TO PROFESSIONS, ETC. 197 

press this. What nobler objects might not the 
physician, above all professional men, have in 
view ! What far more dignified demeanour might 
he not justly assume! 

The Lawyer, in general, is originally induced to 
make choice of his profession by a feeling of apti- 
tude for it — a consciousness, too often, of that 
hardness and cold-heartedness which are essential 
to his being a means indifferently of right, or of 
the most cruel jvrong, of that sharpness and cun- 
ning which can unsparingly turn every event to his 
client's, and therefore to his own, purpose, and of 
that rapacity for money which cares not how it is 
got, if lawfully got. The most honourable men 
in the profession are the most ready to acknow- 
ledge this, and to rejoice at the lustration which 
has been begun. — See Plate XV., in which may 
be seen some of the hardness and sharpness of the 
hacknied lawyer, mixed with better qualities. 

The Clergyman, it is to be feared, is, in too many 
instances, originally induced to make choice of his 
profession by a feeling of inaptitude for it — or at 
least of what all but himself and friends would 



198 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES, ETC. 

deem inaptitude. He is, not unfrequently, a depen- 
dent member of some aristocratic family, educated 
as if, through favour only, he were one day to be 
provided for, independent of all fitness and merit. 
His requisites are, too often, some mere forms of 
study, and that external appearance of averseness 
to sensual indulgence which frequently ensures its 
reality, its excess, or its perversion. Hence, he 
sometimes presents a countenance in which sen- 
suality, strongly characterized in every feature, is 
covered with a transparent film of sanctity, of 
which the composure extends no deeper than the 
skin. The most sincere and honourable men in 
the clerical profession are precisely those who most 
deeply deplore this. — See Plate XVI., in which 
some small degree of pleasurable indulgence is 
thus slightly varnished over. 

Plate XVII. illustrates the effects of a quiet and 
noiseless trade, in a Weaver; and Plate XVIII. 
illustrates those of a turbulent and boisterous one, 
in a Miner. 



X VI 




Published/by- Smil^Elder 8c C° Coriih3ILXoii£lr>Ti.. 



199 



CHAPTER VIII. 

APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES TO INDIVI- 
DUALS, OR BASIS WHICH THEY AFFORD FOR PHY- 
SIOGNOMY IN GENERAL. 

Section I. — The Head generally considered. 

Though these characteristics have, in the preceding 
part of the work, been applied only to the varieties 
of the human race, and to different sexes, yet, it is 
obvious, that they all apply with equal correctness 
to individuals of whatever description ; and that 
they, therefore, constitute the first principles of 
physiognomy, which have not hitherto been thus 
founded on physiology. 

Thus, organs of sense greatly developed, in com- 
parison to the cerebrum and cerebellum, indicate 
the pre-eminence of sensation, and a diminished 
degree of intellect and voluntary power ; the cere- 



200 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

brum greatly developed, in comparison to the or- 
gans of sense and the cerebellum, indicates the 
pre-eminence of intellect, and a diminished degree 
of sensation and voluntary power ; and the cerebel- 
lum greatly developed, in comparison to the organs 
of sense and cerebrum, indicates the pre-eminence 
of voluntary power, and a diminished degree of 
sensation and intellect. 

In order to ascertain the magnitude of these or- 
gans in the living body, than which there is no 
experiment at once more amusing and useful, the 
process is simple : that of the organs of sense is 
obvious to every observer ; so is that of the cere- 
brum ; and that of the cerebellum is easily ascer- 
tained, as, in all superior animals, it begins precisely 
opposite the place where the face terminates, that 
is, opposite the articulation of the lower j aw, which 
is immediately before the ear, and it extends to the 
spine which projects from the occiput or back of 
the head. — In both the last cases, allowance is to 
be made for varieties in the thickness of the cra- 
nium, which are rarely very remarkable. 



TO INDIVIDUALS. 



201 



Thus, we possess the means of ascertaining the 
degrees of the three simple powers, sensation, men- 
tal operation, and volition, in man and all the 
superior animals, in whatever proportion they may 
be combined. 

Moreover, wherever these organs are elongated 
or elevated, their functions are intense and bril- 
liant : wherever they are wide, these are permanent 
and calm. Hence, as will afterwards be seen, the 
elevated cerebrum appears to be associated with 
imagination and poetry ; the broad one, rather 
with mathematical and mechanical ability. # When 
the cerebrum is longest anteriorly, observation ex- 
cels ; and when it is longest posteriorly, passion : 

* The Mongolic or rather v Gothic people have, with regard 
to intellect, been rather distinguished for calculation and 
mechanical talent ; while the Arabic or Celtic people have, 
even in the common expressions of their language, evinced 
imagination and poetical talent. The broad-headed Goth has 
stamped on modern science chiefly the character of mecha- 
nical invention : the longer or higher headed Arab has in all 
ages been characterized by poetical phraseology ; for, on this 
subject, the common expressions of a language, afford a stronger 
argument, than the production of a few great poets, whose 
existence depends more on such incidental circumstances, as 
general illumination, political freedom, &c. which have fre- 

K 5 



202 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

when the cerebrum is elevated before and depressed 
behind, observation is more intense, passion less so ; 
and when it is depressed before and elevated behind, 
observation is less intense, passion more so : when 
the cerebrum is broad before and narrow behind, 
observation is more permanent, passion less so ; 
and when it is narrow before and broad behind, 
observation is less permanent, passion more so. 

Even without measurements, these circumstances 
may, in general, easily be discerned by the eye. 

For a further illustration of these criteria of 
intellect, see Plate I. The inscriptions on the 
plate itself, if examined along with the preceding 
paragraph, render this doctrine perfectly simple. 

quently fallen to the lot of northern nations. Consistently, 
therefore, with previous principles, no supposition so probable 
presents itself, as that the calculatory or mechanical talent of 
the one, is connected with his breadth of cranium, and the 
imaginary or poetical talent of the other, with his length or 
elevation of cranium. In confirmation of this, it is worthy of 
notice, that considerable breadth of the upper part of the head, 
is allowed, even by the most superficial observer, to give an 
air of calmer sagacity ; while great elevation, as in Shake- 
speare, Lopez de Vega, Charles the Twelfth, and a multitude 
of great men, gives always a strong impression of intenser 
genius. 



TO INDIVIDUALS. 203 

Now, the various combinations of these various 
degrees of sensation, mental operation, and volition,, 
originate all the passions and habits of life ; so 
that these passions and habits by no means require 
distinct organs, as Gall has supposed : they are 
compound in their nature, and result from the 
combination of these various degrees of these sim- 
ple powers. 

In now proceeding to consider the face, it is not 
necessary again to repeat what was said of the fore- 
head. Its form, w 7 ith regard to height, breadth, 
and convexity, is involved in the previous consider- 
ation of the three great intellectual organs, and in 
that of the cerebrum or organ of mental operation 
in particular, with which it is chiefly connected. 

Section II. — Advantages which the Face presents 
as the subject of more minute Physiognomy. 

Having thus established the first principles of 
physiognomy, founded, as they ought to be, on a 
comparative view of the three great organs of sen- 



204 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

sation, mental operation and volition, we now, as- 
sisted by the same guide, proceed to its minuter 
details. 

As to the doctrine of Gall, it cannot be denied, 
that, with thirty or forty organs arranged so inge- 
niously over the head that the predominance of 
one may be made accountable for the inactivity of 
another, while every effect is the result of their 
varying combinations, almost any craniological 
system may be maintained for a time. 

From the first, indeed, this arrangement produced 
some whimsical and ridiculous effects, which the 
subsequent change of the names of the organs by 
no means removes. Thus, Gall placed the organ 
of Theosophy not only near to, but in actual 
contact with, the organ of Mimickry. Now, it is 
evident, that if one of these organs be very high, 
the other cannot be very low ; for such sudden 
transitions exist not on the surface of the scull. 
Hence, if the organ of Theosophy be very high, the 
organ of Mimickry cannot be very low ; and as 
energy of function is inseparable from healthy 



TO INDIVIDUALS. 205 

magnitude of organ, it remains for the followers of 
Dr. Gall to prove what connexion there can pos- 
sibly be between fun, and the knowledge of God ! 
The organ of Music, too, is in contact with the 
organ of Theft ; and as in the case of the one be- 
ing very high, the other cannot be very low, it fol- 
lows, not only that the greater thief a man is, the 
more likely he is to be a musician ! but that the 
greater musician a man is, the more likely he 
is to be a thief ! The change, moreover, of the 
first two names into Veneration and Imitation, and 
of the second two into Acquisitiveness and Melody 
or Tune, does not much mend the matter. — But 
to lay aside merriment, for which it is to be re- 
gretted that Gall should have given any scope, it 
is not to be denied, that he is entitled to praise for 
the perseverance employed on this subject; and it 
is only to be regretted that he has not sufficiently 
employed scientific principles, or shunned empiri- 
cal methods. 

In a foot note, I give the names of these organs, 
as improved by the followers of Gall, with re- 



206 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

-ferences to the Plates in which their places are 
seen. # 

The minute details of physiognomy, however, 

* Names of the Organs, 
According to Dr. Spurzheim. [See Plate XIX.] 



No. I. Organ of Amativeness. 



TT 
11. 


Philoprogenitiveness. 


TTT 
111. 


Inhabitiveness. 


TV 

J. V . " 


A n nDcivoiiDt's 


V . 


CombativenesSs 


VT 

V A. 


_L^Ci3 CI U.V^ LI V CllCoo . 


VTT 
Vll. 


- Secretiveness. 


17TTT 
Vlll. 


Acquisitiveness. 


TY 


PnnQtrn pfi uptipcc 
v^uusn utiivciicaa. 


A. 


Self-esteem, 


VT 

Al. 


Love of approbation. 


VTT 

All. 


- Cautiousness. 


XIII. - 


- Benevolence. 


XIV. - 


- Veneration. 


XV. - 


- Firmness. 


XVI. - 


- Conscientiousness. 


XVII. - 


- Hope. 


XVIII. - 


- Marvellousness. 


XIX. - 


- Ideality. 


XX. - 


- Mirthfulness or gaynes 


XXI. - 


- Imitation. 


XXII. - 


- Individuality. 


XXIII. - 


- Configuration. 


XXIV. - 


- Size. 


XXV. - 


- Weight and resistance. 



JOX 



3D) » S3PTEJ1RZ3EI3E3IM. 



XX 



•7 '' L '' ' "'j], .'\ 




TO INDIVIDUALS. 207 

are not to be satisfactorily found in any investiga- 
tion, either of the superior or posterior part of the 
head, as Gall has attempted. The reasons of this 
are obvious. First, the superior and posterior 

No. XXVI. Organ of Colouring. 



XXVII. - 


- Locality. 


XXVIII. - 


- Calculation. 


XXIX. - 


- Order. 


XXX. - 


- Eventuality. 


XXXI. - 


- Time. 


XXXII. - 


- Melody. 


XXXIII. - 


- Language. 


XXXIV. - 


- Comparison. 


XXXV. - 


- Causality. 



Names of the Organs, 
According to other Craniologists. [See Plate XX.] 

I. Propensities. 

1. Amativeness. 6. Destructiveness. 

2. Philoprogenitiveness. 7. Constructiveness, 

3. Concentrativeness. 8. Acquisitiveness, 

4. Adhesiveness. 9. Secretiveness. 

5. Combativeness. 

II. Sentiments. 

10. Self-esteem. 15. Hope. 

11. Love of approbation. 16. Ideality. 

12. Cautiousness. Wonder. 

13. Benevolence. 17. Conscientiousness. 

14. Veneration. 18. Firmness. 



208 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

parts of the head present chiefly one or two or- 
gans very uniformly constructed, except with re- 
gard to the great and more general deviations 
which have been already explained ; and conse- 
quently minute forms are with difficulty discerned 
on them, superficially examined. Secondly, the 
whole superficies of these organs is covered by the 
scull, somewhat irregular in its thickness, so as 
to render it difficult to calculate what may be 
the minute conformation of the subjacent parts. 
Thirdly, the scull covering these organs is itself 
covered with hair, so that any examination of them 
is thus rendered still more difficult. Fourthly, the 
dress of most nations presents an additional ob- 
stacle. 

III. Intellect. 

19. Individuality. (J. 26 - Tl ™. 

J 1 2, or lower. 27> N um l>er. 

20. Form. 28. Tune. 

21. Size. 29 Language. 

22. Weight. 30. Comparison. 
23» Colouring. 31. Causality. 

24. Locality. 32. Wit. 

25. Order. 33. Imitation. 



TO INDIVIDUALS. 209 

The greatest error of the doctrine of Gall is the 
supposition that for every propensity, sentiment, or 
intellectual faculty, distinct organs exist, and the 
assigning consequently a multitude of simple and 
distinct organs, for functions which owe their exis- 
tence to a combination of others. 

There doubtless exist organs of observing, com- 
paring, determining, willing, &e. ; and if Gall had 
determined these, and then endeavoured from them 
to reason respecting their combinations in the indi- 
vidual propensities, sentiments, &c. to which they 
give birth, he would more nearly have approached 
the truth. 

The great and simple organs he would have found 
in the curious and beautiful structure of the more 
internal parts of the brain. To every observer, these 
at once seem to present distinct organs, though cer- 
tainly not of the particular kind to which Gall al- 
ludes; while the hemispheres appear rather to con- 
stitute one organ, which is connected with a number 
of others — probably that of memory, connected 
with so many of the intellectual functions ; and, on 
this fact, the sole w r orth of the doctrine may rest, 



210 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

To expose clearly this greatest of all the errors 
committed by Gall, I must observe that he assigns 
the first of his propensities, amativeness, to an or- 
gan, the cerebellum, which I have proved to be the 
organ of another function ! Nor is this all : it is 
evident that, supposing the simple passion of desire 
to reside, as it really does, not in the cerebellum, 
but the posterior part of the cerebrum, it may easily 
be shown that the particular species of desire will 
depend on the action of the cerebral organ com- 
bined with others which, far from being indicated 
by any protuberance of the head, do not even exist 
in it. Amativeness cannot at all be indicated on 
the cranium, because it is a modification of desire, 
caused entirely by the power, and the accumulated 
secretion, of certain glands, of which I will only 
here say that they have nothing to do with the 
head? No blunder can be more egregious or more 
ridiculous. 

With a little knowledge of the brain, of which 
Gall and Spurzheim were miserably destitute, it is 
easy to show the causes of the blunders committed 
by these craniologists. 



TO INDIVIDUALS. 211 

In front of the head, the frontal sinuses, by pro- 
jecting ever the eye, exclude irrelevant objects, 
direct vision, and ensure its accuracy. The outer 
plate or side of these sinuses has no relation in form 
to the inner, and consequently none to the brain 
under it, as accurate examination will show. Yet 
these dreamers, misled by vaguely observing ef- 
fects produced by its external use, as to the greater 
accuracy of vision, corresponding with its greater 
developement, have assigned to its projection their 
internal organs individuality, locality, size, weight, 
&c. ! The blunder, and the mode in which it has 
occurred, are equally obvious. They assign func- 
tions to the inner side which belong to the outer ! 

On the side of the head, chiefly above and be- 
fore the ear, are situated — internally the parts of 
the brain on which, as shall afterwards be shown, 
vitality depends, and — externally the muscles 
(temporal and masseter) of the jaw on which 
chiefty the seizing and masticating of food depends. 
With the encrease of these powers, this part of the 
head is always enlarged. These mystics, misled, 
as in the front of the head, by vague observation, 



212 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

have assigned to the projection of this part their 
acquisitiveness, secretiveness, combativeness, des- 
tructiveness, &c« ! Animals, indeed, acquire, se- 
crete, combat, and destroy by means of the jaw 
and its muscles ; but this is no reason for giving 
them so many little organs within the brain ! 

Under the back of the head, is situated the cere- 
bellum, which I have proved to be the organ of vo- 
lition — a function which is essential to the gratifi- 
cation of all the passions, because the muscular 
powers which depend on it are essential to all, and 
therefore to that of love as one of the most power- 
ful. The developement of this part of course bears 
some proportion to the vigour of that propensity. 
These superficial observers, and worse reasoners 
have therefore assigned to the projection of this 
part their amativeness ! as if no other purpose 
were served by the great organ of the will, on which 
every desire for its gratification and all muscular 
power depend ! 

I must further remark, that not only the preced- 
ing exposure, but the spirit of sheer hypothesis 
and systematizing in which the whole doctrine is 



TO INDIVIDUALS. 213 

constructed, is such as to deprive it of all confi- 
dence. Thus, such has been Gall's resolve to con- 
vert the superficial convolutions of the brain into 
organs, and to assign every function necessary to 
human existence to those convolutions which are 
most superficial and may be supposed to make 
some external appearance (for without such appear- 
ance, there would have been no craniologizing), 
that he has calculated on no one observing his en- 
tire omission of as many more convolutions in the 
* base of the brain, over the cerebellum, and between 
the hemispheres ! So that he makes out a com- 
plete man, or a complete mind, with the aid only 
of half the organic matter which the surface of the 
brain presents ! 

It is in this spirit, — that, as the anterior part 
of the brain, is evidently connected with observa- 
tion, Gall has placed there distinct organs for every 
modification or combination of it — individuality, 
form, size, weight, colour, locality, order, time^ 
number, tune, language, &c. ; — that, as the upper 
part of the brain is evidently connected with imagi- 
nation, he has placed there distinct organs for every 



214 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

modification or combination of it — self esteem, 
love of approbation, veneration, hope, wonder, 
ideality, &c. ; — and that, as the posterior part of 
the brain is evidently connected with passion, he 
has placed there distinct organs for every modifica- 
tion or combination of it — philoprogenitiveness, 
inhabitiveness or concentrativeness, adhesiveness, 
&c. So that altogether overlooking the equally 
numerous convolutions on the base of the brain and 
elsewhere, he, as already said, makes out all the 
functions of the mind from half the organic matter 
which its mere surface presents ! 

Gall, then, has not only erred, even with regard 
to these organs, by mistaking their nature and 
limiting their sites, but he has still more egregious- 
ly erred throughout, in assigning a multitude of 
simple and distinct organs, for functions, which 
owe their existence to a combination of others, 

In order to ascertain the frequent existence of 
any habit of mind, the search for minute and dis- 
tinct organs must be abandoned : but, it is only 
necessary to ascertain the existence of the signs 
of those degrees of the simple powers, which are 



TO INDIVIDUALS. 215 

requisite to constitute the habit, than which, ac- 
cording to the preceding principles, nothing is more 
easy. 

Nature seems admirably to have preserved one 
of the great mental organs, open for our inspection, 
The face, containing the organs of sense, presents 
every possible advantage for the purpose of physi- 
ognomical examination. First, it exhibits several 
organs, each of which may be separately and dis- 
tinctly examined. These organs, it will be found, 
present, if we may use the term, a kind of analysis 
of sensation : or in other words, — while in some of 
the inferior animals, one and the same organ re- 
ceives several kinds of impression, and is sensible 
to light, touch, &c. — in man, transparent lenses 
transmit the rays of light ; tense membranes re- 
ceive the concussions of sound ; convoluted organs 
receive the impressions of the odours which are 
wafted through the nose, in the air which we re- 
spire ; the moist papillae of the tongue receive the 
impressions of taste ; and the delicately conformed 
and highly sensible tips of the fingers receive those 
of touch. Secondly, in the face, the soft parts or 



216 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

rather the organs of sense, are quite superficial, and 
not separated from our view by osseous matter. 
Thirdly, little or no hair, and, in general, no mode of 
dressing;, covers these organs. 

These reasons for preferring the face, for the 
purpose of physiognomical observation, are pre- 
cisely the counterpart of those which prevent the 
examination of the superior and posterior parts of 
the head. 

From a vague perception of this truth, it has 
probably arisen, that the face, in particular, has 
ever been the principal subject of physiognomical 
observation, and forms almost the sole one of the 
celebrated fragments of Lavater. 

The taste of Lavater was exquisite and unerring. 
To be assured of this, it is only necessary to com- 
pare any drawing and description in his larger 
work : the extreme and minute accuracy of his re- 
marks are instantly acknowledged. 

Although, however, by the keenest sensibility 
and the most exquisite taste, Lavater was eminently 
qualified for physiognomical observation, yet his 
excessive enthusiasm utterly impeded its steady 



TO INDIVIDUALS. 217 

and regular progress as a science : its statements 
were tolerable only when delivered in the glowing 
diction of Lavater ; and, when expressed in more 
common language, had the air not only of extrava- 
gance, but of absurdity. 

From want also of the pow r er of generalizing in a 
great and extensive manner, he was incapable of 
arranging his own observations, and consequently 
could deduce from them no general conclusion. 

The absence, moreover, of all anatomical and 
physiological knowledge — a circumstance, which 
which it is but just to say, that he himself was 
among the first to acknowledge and regret — this 
held him ignorant of the causes of all the motions 
he observed, and rendered impossible the establish- 
ment of general principles and the attainment of 
definite objects. 

Destitute, however, as Lavater's work is of 
general principles, and impossible as it is to give 
any analytical view of it, it is nevertheless the 
most valuable work which has appeared on physi- 
ognomical science. 

L 



218 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 



Section III.— Classification of the Parts which 
the Face presents. 

In this point of view, nature presents other, and 
perhaps still more beautiful reasons for this prefer- 
ence of the face. 

The intellectual part of the face is evident at 
once, in the eye, the ear, and the forehead ; and it 
is there consequently that we are to look for intel- 
lectual indications. 

The effect of the expansion of these and the su- 
perior parts will be the general pyriform shape of 
the head ; and hence such form of head will be 
found to indicate a predominance of the intellectual 
system. 

The vital and motive parts of the face are more 
blended ; so that their indications are not quite so 
obvious. 

A little examination, however, will show, that 
the vital parts are generally internal ; as the organs 
of smell and taste, on which vitality depends, as 



TO INDIVIDUALS. 219 

well as the various sinuses or cavities connected 
with these. 

The effect of these expansions will be the general 
roundness of the face ; and hence such form of face 
will be found to indicate a predominance of the 
vital system, and persons having such form of face 
will almost universally be found to have larger 
bodies, shorter limbs, &c. 

A brief examination will also show that the mo- 
tive parts are generally external ; as the muscles 
and the osseous parts to which they are fixed. 

The effect of these will be the general squareness 
or rather oblong form of the face ; and hence such 
form of face will be found to indicate a predomin- 
ance of the locomotive system, and persons having 
such form of face will almost universally be found 
to have longer limbs, &c. 

All mental operation, besides, and all volition is 
dependant upon sensation. By the face being left 
thus exposed, we are enabled not only to point out 
the capabilities of men with regard to sensation 
itself ; but, as all effects are dependant upon cor- 
responding causes, we are also enabled in som 

l2 



220 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

measure, to predict the mental operation and the 
volition which may result from given powers of 
sensation. 

Moreover, the face thus presents not only or- 
gans of sense, or organs of impression ; its mus- 
cular parts are all under the guidance of the will, 
or of the organ of volition. Hence, the state of 
these muscular parts beautifully indicates the acts 
also of that organ on which they depend. So that 
the face may be said to present organs of volition 
as well as those of sensation. 

Now, had organs of sense alone been exhibited 
in the face, we could not infallibly have predicted 
the extent of mental operation ; because, although 
no acts of the mind inconsistent with the obvious 
capacities of the organs of sense could have taken 
place, yet mental operation might have advanced 
to no very great extent. For it often happens, that 
the sensations, as in the negro, are strong, while 
the mental operations and volitions are weak. The 
existence in the face, however, of organs dependent 
on volition, as w r ell as of organs of sensation, enables 
us accurately to predict the precise extent to which 



TO INDIVIDUALS. 221 

mental operation has advanced, because all the 
acts of volition are the result of preceding mental 
operation, and could not have existed without it. 

It is of much importance to attend to this fact. 

As the face presents organs of two kinds, this is 
its greatest and most general division ; and the 
first rule of physiognomy applicable to the face in 
particular, results from examining the predomin- 
ance of one of these sets of organs over the other — 
of those of sense over those of volition, or vice versa. 

Some countenances express great sensibility and 
little voluntary power. Hence, the vulgar often 
point out a species of beauty in countenances 
which they nevertheless grant to have little expres- 
sion. Now, the truth in this case is explained by 
the rule that, some countenances present beautifully 
formed organs of sense and perhaps much sensibi- 
lity, but no strongly delineated muscular parts, and 
consequently no proof of powerful mental opera- 
tion ; or, in other words, they have little expression : 
other countenances present strong muscular traits 
and much expression, but less beautifully forme 
organs of sense and less sensibility. 



222 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

Some nations, as those of the East Indies, pos- 
sess the former of these characters, namely, a fine 
oval face, beautifully shaped eyes and nose, and 
lips admirably curved, and, along with these, much 
sensibility; yet they have little expression, be- 
cause the muscular parts of their face are scarcely 
apparent, and correspondingly they have a remark- 
ably small cerebellum. This observation is also 
in general applicable to the faces of women com- 
pared with those of men. — Other nations again, as 
those of Europe, possess the last of these characte- 
ristics, viz. strong muscular traits and much expres- 
sion, but less beautifully formed organs of sense 
and less sensibility. Such also is, in general, the 
case with regard to the faces of men, compared 
with those of women. 

Thus, we have established the first and most 
general physiognomical rule that can be derived 
from the face individually considered. 

Before proceeding to examine the individual or- 
gans of sense, it will be obvious to every one, that, 
as they are organs of sense, and not of mental 
operation, physiognomists have erred in endeavour- 



TO INDIVIDUALS. 223 

ing to point out in them, direct indications of judg- 
ment and other faculties which belong entirely to 
mental operation, and which can be directly indi- 
cated only by the form of the superior part of the 
head, in which the organ of mental operation is 
situated. Nevertheless, the organs of sense may 
be said to present indirect indications of such 
mental qualities, because their existence may, in 
some measure, be predicted from certain degrees 
of sensibility, which the organs of sense them- 
selves express ; and the muscular or voluntary 
parts especially give such indications, because the 
acts of the will, which they obey, never take place 
unless preceded by mental operation. 

It is, however, worthy of notice, that although 
muscular parts or organs dependent on volition enter 
into the composition of the face, yet all the motions 
which they perform, although we may denominate 
them expressive, are performed by no means exclu- 
sively for any such purpose as expression, but pri- 
marily for the purpose of rendering those organs of 
sense,with which they are connected, more fit for the 
reception of impression ; and consequently, their 



224 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

first and principal reference is to sensation, and not 
to volition. This, however, is attended with no 
inconvenience, because the organs of sense, thus 
influenced by the voluntary powers, enable us to 
calculate the degree of other functions. 

Section IV. — The organs of sense in particular. 

The number of these organs first demands our 
attention — Why are the organs precisely five in 
number ? This is a question well worth being put. 
The answer is not difficult. These organs are five 
in number, because there are just so many states 
of matter capable of affecting animal bodies, and 
such a number of media in which they are involved. 
These are solids which affect touch, liquids which 
affect taste, fluids which affect smell, aeriform vi- 
brations which affect hearing, and light which 
affects the sight. The states of matter, properly so 
called, are indeed only three, namely, solidity, li- 
quidity, and fluidity, and require only three organs, 
namely, those of touch, taste, and smell ; but it is 



TO INDIVIDUALS. 225 

obvious, that the other two senses, of hearing and 
seeing, were indispensable to such a perfectly or- 
ganized animal as man, in consequence of his being 
enveloped in the two great media of the atmo- 
sphere and of light. Had still other media existed, 
there would have been still other senses. The 
states of matter, then, and the media are precisely 
five in number ; and hence, the organs of sense 
are precisely five. 

Another curious and important question is — 
Why are some of the organs double and others 
single ? Now nature seems desirous of rendering 
impressions in the more perfect animals as numer- 
ous, extensive, and powerful, as is consistent with 
their organization. Hence, instead of one organ of 
sense, like the Zoophytes, she has given them five ; 
and, instead of these being single organs, she has 
doubled them whenever it was possible ; and has 
permitted them to be single, only in those cases 
where certain other circumstances — certain com- 
plex offices, which they had also to perform, ren- 
dered the doubling of them impossible. Thus, the 
ear performs only the office of hearing, and con- 

l 5 



226 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

sistently with this principle, it is double. The eye 
performs only the office of seeing, and, in similar 
consistency, it also is double. But the nose and 
the mouth do not perform only the respective of- 
fices of smelling and tasting — they perform also 
that of speech. Nov/, it was necessary that the 
voice should be single. Hence, the nose and 
mouth are each a single and not a double organ. 
It is true that these form two different organs thus 
performing one function — the function of voice ; 
but it is worthy of notice, that nature has beauti- 
fully adapted them for the performance of distinct 
portions of that one function : articulation conse- 
quently takes place in the mouth ; resonance, in 
the nose. Thus, admirably does nature conform 
to the general principle above enunciated. It is 
further worthy of notice, that these two organs, in 
so far as they are two different organs of sense, re- 
ceiving impressions from without, are externally 
separate ; and in so far as they form one and the 
same organ of voice, proceeding from within, they 
internally communicate. 

A third question not less worthy of notice pre- 



TO INDIVIDUALS* 227 

sents itself — Why have these different organs si- 
tuations so very different ; two of them, the eye 
and the ear, being placed superiorly, and two, the 
nose and mouth, inferiorly ? The reason of this 
is equally obvious. The eye and the ear are ele- 
vated in order to command objects placed at as 
great a distance as possible ; and the nose and 
mouth, which do not receive impressions from a 
distance, are placed below, in order to permit a 
ready communication with the lungs and stomach. 
Nothing, moreover, could have been more inconve- 
nient, than the situation of the nose and mouth 
above the eye and ear, not only as it would have ele- 
vated senses which do not command distant objects, 
above senses which ought to command them, but 
as it would have required an unnecessary length of 
the canals which communicate with the lungs and 
stomach, and would also have exposed those no- 
bler organs — the eye and the ear, to injury from 
food, &c. The reason, also, why the ear in par- 
ticular is placed behind the eye, is, that, while each 
object of our vision occupies a limited situation, and 
can best be inspected by an organ placed before, 



228 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

sounds, on the contrary, are diffused all around, 
and can more completely be impressed on organs 
situate on each side. Ample room is thus also 
given to the organs necessarily placed before — a 
situation which, in consequence of man's having 
the power of moving in one direction, is rendered 
evidently the best. The reason, moreover, why 
the nose is placed higher than the mouth, is not 
only that it is destined to command objects — odours 
namely, from a greater distance than the mouth, 
which for the purposes of taste must have liquids 
brought into actual contact with it, but there is 
another reason for their situation, which has a very 
beautiful reference to their use, as the organ of 
voice. All resonance (of which the nose, as we 
ave already stated, is the organ) tends to ascend \ 
and hence, the nose, in order to perform that office 
— to permit resonance, must be placed superior 
to the mouth — the organ in which articulation 
is actually produced. The organ of touch not 
being placed in the face, together with the other 
organs of sense, but at the tips of the fingers, is 
owing to this, that the organ of touch is neither, 



TO INDIVIDUALS. 229 

like the eye and ear, affected by media universally 
diffused, nor, like the nose and tongue, by objects 
which are easily transported to them, but by solids 
which are sometimes not easily moved, and some- 
times require an organ of a certain length and flex- 
ibility, to come in contact with their various parts. 
Hence, it has the present situation. Moreover, 
even if solids had all been easily moveable, and 
readily applicable to a fixed organ, yet, as the hands 
must have been employed to move them thither, it 
was evidently, in many respects, most advantage- 
ous that the organ of touch should reside in them- 
selves : unnecessary movement is thus avoided, and 
the quickest and most accurate knowledge of ob- 
j ects acquired. It is for these reasons, then, that the 
organ of touch, instead of residing in the face, like 
those of the other senses, is borne about at the 
tips of the fingers. 

These three very curious and interesting ques- 
tions, have, till lately been utterly neglected ; # and, 

* The preceding views respecting them were first quoted, 
with acknowledgement, from my lectures, by Dr. Pitta, in his 
'< Treatise on the Influence of Climate." 



230 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

with regard to the last, it may be justly observed, 
that, if it be worth the while of the naturalist to 
remark, that the habit of the rays, of lying always 
on their belly, renders it necessary for them to have 
eyes in the back of their head, as is exemplified in 
the skate, for eyes in the front would be buried in 
the sand, — it surely cannot be unworthy of the 
physiologist to assign the reasons for the situa- 
tion of individual organs in the noblest of all 
animals. 

Now, as the first rule of physiognomy, derived 
from the consideration of the face, was founded 
upon its consisting of organs of two kinds, namely 
organs of sense or impression, and organs of voli- 
tion or expression ; so the second is founded on the 
former — the organs of sense thus generally con- 
sidered. It is, that with regard to each of the or- 
gans of sense, coarse or defective construction indi- 
cates coarse or defective sensibility; and, on the 
contrary, delicate and perfect construction indicates 
delicate and perfect sensibility. 

We have next to inquire into the best order of 
enumerating, or arranging the organs of which we 



TO INDIVIDUALS. 231 

have thus explained the number, the circumstance 
of their being double or single, and the different 
situation. Some enumerate them thus : touch, 
taste, smell, hearing, seeing; and others exactly 
reverse this order. The first arrangement com- 
mencing with touch, is the order of the accuracy 
of these organs ; for touch is the most accurate of 
the senses, because it consists in the actual contact 
of solids, which are the least variable state of mat- 
ter ; taste is less accurate, because it consists in 
the contact of liquids, which are more variable; 
smell is still less accurate, because it consists in 
the contact of fluids, which are more variable still ; 
and hearing and seeing are least accurate of all, 
because they do not consist in any actual contact, 
but depend upon the interposition of media — air 
or light. Hence, the echo utterly deceives us, as 
to the direction of sound, and the oar which ap- 
pears perfectly straight in the open air, seems bent 
when partially plunged in water. This, then, is 
the order of their accuracy. The opposite order, 
commencing with the sense of sight, is the order, 
if we may so term it, of their dignity. The eye 



232 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

may be regarded as the noblest organ, because it 
commands objects at the greatest possible distance; 
the ear commands objects which are nearer; the 
nose, those which must be wafted to it by the air • 
the taste, those which are applied to it in liquids ; 
and the touch, those solids with which that organ 
must be carried into actual contact. 

Upon this appropriation to objects situate at 
different distances, depends the third great physi- 
ognomical rule, applicable to the face in particular. 
This is, that a more developed and perfect form of 
any one of these organs, than of the rest, indicates 
the capability of receiving more perfect impres- 
sions from that particular species of object for 
which the organ is calculated, and also a capability 
of those more or less noble intellectual operations 
which most readily flow from such impression. 
Thus, although all the senses are subservient to 
the pleasures termed sensual, in opposition to those 
which are reckoned more purely intellectual, yet 
it is evident that some senses, as the mouth and 
nose, are more subservient to sensual pleasure. 
Hence, (to illustrate the preceding rule) their greater 



TO INDIVIDUALS. 233 

developement, as in the brute, will indicate rather 
a susceptibility of sensual than of intellectual plea- 
sure • and, on the contrary, their being of mode- 
rate size and delicately constructed, will indicate a 
more moderate and delicate sensuality. On the 
contrary, the greater developement of the eye and 
ear — these nobler organs, to which language and 
the fine arts are addressed, will only indicate the 
greater capacity of these organs, for impressions in 
general, whether of a sensual or of an intellectual 
kind* 

Section V. — Peculiar Relation of each Organ of 
sense to the Brain, as essential to understanding 
the Expressions of each. 

Nothing ought perhaps more to surprize us than 
that the first principles of physiognomy, properly 
so called, to which we are now to proceed, should 
never have been established. No subject can be 
more interesting ; none has had bestowed upon it 
the labour of a greater number of men of genius ; 



234 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

and none has so much perplexed enquirers or dis- 
appointed universal expectation. 

This has been owing in a great measure to the 
circumstance, that enquirers have rarely combined 
physiological with general knowledge,, and in a still 
greater measure to the circumstance, that they 
have more rarely still thought of exercising a strict 
analysis not only as to the parts presented to them 
and their immediate functions, but as to the remoter 
operations to which these lead. 

As the object of physiognomy is to give super- 
ficial indications of the actions of remoter organs, 
it must be evident that our search for accurate in- 
dications will be vain, if we know not the precise 
connexion which subsists between each superficial 
part and those internal parts or internal actions 
which it indicates. 

Thus, although we have hitherto known the va- 
rious functions of the eye, ear, nose and mouth, 
yet no one seems to have enquired, whether an ef- 
fect totally distinct in its character was not pro- 
duced by the action of each of these parts commu- 
nicated to the brain, — whether some of these or- 



TO INDIVIDUALS. 235 

gans led not to emotions, and others to passions, — 
whether some of them were not subservient to ani- 
mal, and others to intellectual purposes ; and conse- 
quently it was impossible to assign to each its real 
indications. 

Hence arise nearly all our embarrassments in the 
study of physiognomy. It is in vain to ask what 
the varying forms of the eye, ear, &c. indicate, if 
we know these only as organs of sense, and are 
ignorant of the character of the effects to which they 
lead. It is vain to seek for remoter indications, and 
to be ignorant of remoter connexions and effects ! 

The observing faculties, then, appear to depend 
on the anterior part of the brain corresponding to 
the forehead. 

The comparing faculties seem to depend on the 
middle part of the brain. 

The determining faculties appear to depend on 
the posterior part of the brain. # 

The natural succession of these faculties is obvious. 

*-In a work on Anthopology generally, and in another 
on the Brain and Nervous System, I shall establish these and 
other points. 



236 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

Observing, dependent on the anterior part of 
the brain, should evidently, as it does, succeed 
sensation, because it is immediately derived from 
it. 

Comparing, dependent on the middle part of the 
brain, should as evidently succeed observing, be- 
cause it can thence alone derive its means. 

Determining, dependent on the posterior part of 
the brain, should not less evidently succeed com- 
paring, because it can be founded on that alone. 

Volition, dependent on the cerebel, should evi- 
dently, as it does, succeed determining, and influ- 
ence muscular motion. 

The result of observing is an idea : the result of 
comparing is an emotion : the result of determin- 
ing is a passion, or, more simply considered, desire 
or aversion. 

When the process of observing is complicated, it 
is called understanding : when the process of com- 
paring is complicated, it is called reasoning : when 
the process of determining is complicated, it is 
called judging. 

Consciousness regards present observation or 



TO INDIVIDUALS. 237 

perception ; memory, that which is past. Imita- 
tion regards present comparing ; imagination, that 
which is past. Passion regards present determin- 
ing ; poetical feeling, that which is past. 

To each of these processes, a corresponding or- 
ganization appears to exist in the internal part of the 
brain ; but I can discover no vestige of any, for the 
thirty or forty little functions of the craniologists. 

Thus neither are minute and mystical organs 
here assumed ; nor are their functions other than 
conformable both with actual observation and with 
obvious causes. 

To limited and intense observation, appear to 
follow order, method, or even resource ; and to 
larger and permanent observation, appear to follow 
imitation and even imagination. 

These, even if truths, maybe deemed scanty ones. 
They are intentionally no more, in order that any 
one may verify them by his own observation. 

Now, from the three more important senses, we 
derive impressions differing not only in their na- 
ture, but in their effects. 

From the peculiar objects of touch, we derive 



238 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

chiefly ideas ; from those of sight, chiefly emo- 
tions ; and from those of hearing, chiefly desires 
or aversions. 

In illustration of this, as of all simple truths, 
there exist many popular notions, as of the pecu- 
liar accuracy of touch, the superficial pleasure de- 
rived from colours, and the deeper affections from 
music. 

An idea being the mental image of an external 
object, &c, — emotion being pleasure or pain su- 
peradded to this idea, — and desire or aversion 
implying a deeper interest superadded to this emo- 
tion, — a little reflection will show in what way 
these are generated by the senses to which I have 
ascribed them. 

The accuracy of touch seems to be proportioned 
to its limitation, and hence it can create in the 
mind chiefly ideas, or give us, directly at least, only 
notions of the thing's existence and of its parts. 

The vagueness of sight is compensated by its 
extension. The state of the atmosphere consti- 
tuting light, though it show only the superficies of 
each body, displays the relations of many, both to 



TO INDIVIDUALS. 239 

each other and to the observer, and these relations 
being necessarily either agreeable or disagreeable, 
add pleasure or pain to the idea which they in- 
volve, or constitute an emotion. 

The atmospheric motions which constitute sound 
are the reports, as it were, not merely of the rela- 
tions of bodies to each other, but of their actions 
upon each other, and upon the organs of the hearer. 
Instead of being the passive subjects of his sense, 
like forms in touch, he is the subject of their ac- 
tion, and, as this action affects him either plea- 
sureably or painfully, it creates desire or aversion. 

The nerves of touch in general appear to pass 
toward the anterior part of the brain ; the nerves 
of sight, toward the middle part of the brain ; 
the nerves of hearing, toward the posterior part of 
the brain ; and the nerves of motion descend from 
the cerebel. 

Hence, the functions of these parts would be in- 
dicated, if we had no other guide. 

The nose and mouth are as evidently con- 
nected with animal purposes, as the eye and ear 
with intellectual ones ; and a little consideration 



240 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

will show that they are calculated .for the excite- 
ment of emotion and passion of that inferior order. 

As to the nose, it will, as soon as suggested, be 
evident, that, in regard to alimentary substances, 
it can procure only the preliminary pleasure or pain, 
and not the final gratification of desire. It is the 
organ, therefore, of animal emotion, as the eye is of 
intellectual emotion ; and it is remarkable that its 
nerves, like those of the eyes pass toward the mid- 
dle part of the brain. 

As to the mouth, it will also, as soon as sug- 
gested, be evident, that, in regard to alimentary 
substances, it does procure the final gratifications 
of desire. It is the organ, therefore, of animal 
passion or propensity, as the ear is of intellectual 
passion ; and it is likewise remarkable, that its 
nerves, like those of the ear, pass toward the pos- 
terior part of the brain. 

Thus, the eye and nose are associated in emo- 
tions, though these emotions are of different kinds ; 
nor do they agree only in this general approxima- 
tion of purpose and passage of their nerves, the 
seat of smell internally is placed precisely between 



TO INDIVIDUALS. 241 

the two seats of vision, and externally the lachry- 
mal ducts, maintaining the connexion, pass from 
the inner angles of the eyes into the nose. 

Thus, too, the ear and mouth are associated in 
passions, though those passions are of different 
kinds; nor do they likewise agree only in this 
general approximation of purpose and passage of 
their nerves, the seat of taste internally is placed 
within the curvature of the under j aw, at the two 
extremities of which, and external to taste, as 
sight is to smell, are the two seats of hearing, the 
jaw ending where the ear begins, while at the 
same time the eustachian tubes, maintaining the 
connexion, pass from the ears towardthe mouth. 

But while the two intellectual organs, the eye 
and the ear, which resemble in being double, also 
hold a considerable distance from each other, the 
two animal organs, the nose and the mouth, which 
resemble in being single, also approximate to each 
other gradually, opening internally into the same 
cavity, and terminating externally near each other 
upon the face. 

Nor is this all : so necessary is the approxima- 

M 



242 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

tion and accompaniment of smell and taste to 
animal purposes, that though the nose, the organ 
of animal emotion, may be said to originate be- 
tween the eyes, the organs of intellectual emotion, 
and the tongue, the organ of animal passion, is 
internally connected with the ears, the organs of 
intellectual passion, yet do they, as it were, not 
only leave these connexions, but, in the lower 
animals, gradually approximating, accompany each 
other even to the end of their snout or muzzle, 
where the distance between them is almost lost. 

Hence it is evident, that the more perfectly 
animal purposes are accomplished, the more ap- 
proach the nose and the mouth. This nearness, 
therefore, indicates the closeness of animal gratifi- 
cation to preceding emotion, and always gives the 
notion of such indulgence ; while their remoteness 
indicates abstinence, and gives the notion of so- 
briety. Even the monkey, with the long space 
between the nose and mouth, is remarkable for 
the reserves which he accumulates in his cheek 
pouches. 

Having thus established the mental conditions 



TO INDIVIDUALS. 243 

to which these several organs are subservient, I 
may proceed to point out the indications which 
their forms and capacities afford. 

So far as the mouth and nose are organs of 
sense or of impression, and not of expression, and 
as such are connected with the brain by peculiar 
nerves, it is obvious that they are not intellectual, 
but exclusively animal. 

The primary purposes of the mouth and nose 
being animal, it is also obvious that their primary 
expressions are equally so ; but as in this case the 
nerves which actuate them appear to be the com- 
mon nerves of motion, and as there is a great ten- 
dency to sympathy in the expressions of organs — 
even the fingers expanding with the eyes in wonder, 
it is further obvious that the same actions which 
express animal passion and emotion will accom- 
pany, and therefore express, intellectual passion 
and emotion. 

v 

On the other hand, so far as the eye and ear are 
organs of sense or of impression, and not of ex- 
pression, and as such are connected with the brain 

m 2 



244 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

by peculiar nerves, it is obvious that they are not 
animal, but exclusively intellectual. 

The primary purposes of the eye and ear being 
also intellectual, it is likewise obvious that their 
primary expressions are equally so ; but as in this 
case the nerves which actuate them (the eye alone 
admitting of much of this) appear to be the com- 
mon nerves of motion, and as there every where 
exists this tendency to sympathy in organs, it is 
likewise obvious that the same actions which ex- 
press intellectual emotion and passion will accom- 
pany, and therefore express, animal emotion and 
passion. 

And in all these expressions, the evident subject 
of emotion or passion will render clear the anima- 
lity or intellectuality of its character. 

Thus, so far as the animal organs of sense are 
purely organs of sense, their indications are ex- 
clusively animal ; and so far as the intellectual 
organs of sense are purely organs of sense, their 
indications are exclusively intellectual ; but so far 
as both these kinds of organs are organs of ex- 
pression, their indications are, in the animal or- 



TO INDIVIDUALS. 



245 



gans, primarily animal and secondarily or sym- 
pathetically intellectual, and, in the intellectual 
organs, primarily intellectual and secondarily or 
sympathetically animal. 



Section VI.—- Physiognomical Expressions of each 
Organ of Sense and the Parts connected with it. 

Having thus generally considered the physiog- 
nomical power of these organs, I may now examine 
each distinctly, and explain its particular indica- 
tions. 

1. Touch. 

On the sense of touch, it is not necessary to 
dwell. A finer organization of skin, especially 
where it covers the tips of the fingers, always indi- 
cates a finer sense of touch and corresponding 
sensibility of character ; and vice versa. 

The organ of touch is diffused over the body, 
but may be said to exist chiefly at the tips of the 
fingers. In the face, however, it may be said to 



246 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

be represented chiefly by the lips. Their primary 
use is to touch the morsel, which is then commi- 
nuted by the teeth, before it can be tasted by the 
tongue. In inferior animals, the mouth, accord- 
ingly, takes the place of hands, and is the sole 
organ of touch ; and even in man, when the hands 
are wanting, the lips are used for that purpose. 

The lips may, therefore, be said at all times to 
represent the organ of touch, and to indicate its 
extent, accuracy, and delicacy ^ and consequently 
the ideas which are dependent upon it. 

2. The Mouth. 

The purposes of the mouth, however, are com- . 
plicated ; and, therefore, though the preceding is 
the primary use of the lips, it is not the sole one. 

The tongue is the proper organ of taste ; but as 
it is always concealed from our view by the lips, 
and as the lips — of all parts of the body possess- 
ing the most exquisite sense of touch, always bear 
an analogy in their form and delicacy to the tongue, 
they may be considered as also representing the 
organ of taste, and as indicating its extent, accu- 



TO INDIVIDUALS. 247 

racy, and delicacy, and consequently the passions 
which are dependent upon it. 

Large lips always indicate greater capacity with 
regard to taste and its associated desires. — Hence, 
in the negro, who excels in that sense, the lips are 
greatly developed, and the sensibility as to taste 
greater. 




Narrow and linear lips always indicate less capa- 
city of taste and its assocated desires. 




: : ' ) V 

The horizontal width of the lips indicates the 
permanence of these functions • their vertical ex- 
tent, intensity. 



248 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

Lips with coarse, irregular, and ill defined out- 
line, always indicate a corresponding rudeness of 
these functions. 



Lips with fine, regular, well defined outline, on 
the contrary, always indicate a corresponding deli- 
cacy of these functions. 



Nor is even this the only indication which the 
mouth affords, as the following observations will 
show. 

Both the nose and mouth have intellectual sym- 
pathies and associations — though these are second- 




j 




J 



TO INDIVIDUALS. 



249 



ary, not primary effects, and they will consequently 
afford corresponding indications. 

All the parts connected with the lower jaw are 
acting parts. The under teeth act on the upper ; 
the tongue which is below, on the palate above ; 
and the under lip, upon the upper one. Now all 
these moving parts are under the influence of the 
will ; and even their tendency to act indicates de- 
sire. Accordingly, we find that the under lip is 
protruded in that species of passion — is its infalli- 
ble accompaniment and indication. 



The under lip undeveloped, on the contrary, in- 
dicates the absence of active gratification. 






\ 



M 5 



250 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

If this be doubted, let any one look at one face 
in which the under lip is thus protruded, and ano- 
ther in which it is not so, or at the same counte- 
nance in which it is placed in these opposite states, 
or, what is better still, let any one place his own 
under lip in these states, and let him notice the 
mental feeling which accompanies each of them. 

As the under lip indicates passion — including 
both desire and aversion, it is everted or evolved in 
the former, and inverted, tightened or rendered 
linear in the latter. The former is exemplified in 
pleasurable gratification ; the latter, in anger. 

As, in the mouth, all the inferior are acting parts, 
so are all the superior passive or mere receiving 
parts. The upper teeth, the palate and the upper 
lip receive the action of the corresponding lower 
parts. Accordingly, we find that the upper lip is 
expanded to receive agreeable impressions, and is 
the infallible accompaniment and indication of 
such passive enjoyment. 



V 




TO INDIVIDUALS. 



251 



The upper lip undeveloped, on the contrary, indi- 
cates the absence of passive gratification. 




If any one doubt this, let him also look at a face 
in which the upper lip is thus expanded, and ano- 
ther in which it is not so, or at the same counte- 
nance in which it is placed in these opposite states, 
or, what, as already said, is better still, let him 
place his own upper lip in these states, and notice 
the mental feeling which accompanies each. 

The long upper lip is generally, if not always, 
without any developed portion at the mouth, and 
it therefore indicates the absence of passive grati- 
fication, which is perfectly consistent with the 
abstinent and sober character of the long space be- 
tween the nose and mouth already alluded to. 

When the under lip is placed over the developed 



252 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

portion of the upper, it substitutes active determi- 
nation for passive impression. Whoever thus places 
the under over the upper lip, will instantly expe- 
rience the passion ; and nothing can better establish 
the truth of our indications. 




For all the reasons already assigned, — it will be 
evident that when both lips are considerably deve- 
loped, a character both actively and passively 
voluptuous exists. 




On the contrary, it is evident, that when both 



TO INDIVIDUALS. 



253 



lips are slightly developed, a character proportion- 
ally opposed to the preceding exists. 




The sensual character is most strongly expressed 
where, not merely the coloured portion, but the 
whole of the lips, to their attachments beyond the 
gums, protrude or hang forward, 




Where, on the contrary, the lips are gently held 
in or drawn backward or toward the angles, what- 
ever may be their expression of passion, it is under 



254 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

controul, and a character of coolness and precision 
is proportionally given. 




This is particularly marked by a depression ex- 
tending downward and outward from each angle of 
the mouth, till it is lost on each side of the chin, or 
rather diffused under the coloured part of the lip, 
and by a corresponding elevation over the depres- 
sion at the angle. 

The furrows or dimples under the under lip inter- 
change in state or condition w T ith those which 
descend from the angles of the mouth, being en- 
creased when they are diminished, and vice versa. 
They afford, therefore, similar indications ; but 
they are too trifling to require much attention. 

The furrows which descend from the wings of 
the nose, passing also somewhat outward, are en- 



TO INDIVIDUALS. 



255 



creased when pleasureable sensation everts the up- 
per lip, or laughter extends it. They, therefore, 
indicate capacity for such sensation. 

The vertical furrow on the upper lip, extending 
from the middle of that lip to the nose, appears 
generally to bear, in its depth, a relation to the 
developement of the lip. Its sides appear to be 
somewhat elastic, and it interchanges in state or 
condition with the furrows which descend from the 
wings of the nose and pass outward. It affords, 
therefore, similar indications. 

As desire or aversion become taste when they 
are delicate, and are applied to material objects, it 
is natural that the developed but delicately out- 
lined lip, combined with intellectual conditions, 
should indicate taste — a faculty of which the very 
name has been borrowed from the sympathy and 
association alluded to. 




256 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

The truth of this will be evident to all who con- 
trast expanded and delicately outlined, with coarse 
and linear, lips : They will find that, while taste 
may be ascribed to the former, it cannot, to the 

latter. 

The absence of eversion of the lips, on the con- 
trary, will be found to indicate absence of taste. 
The persons possessing them, will, moreover, ge- 
nerally be found to be of formal character, often 
penurious, unfeeling, &c. 




3. The Nose. 
A nose which is flat, permits a less direct, ex- 
tensive, and continued application of odours, and 
is less calculated for their enjoyment ; because, in 
that case, odours pass from the nostrils rather along 
the floor of the internal nose, and in the current of 



TO INDIVIDUALS. 257 

air for mere respiration, so as to affect rather the 
nerve of common sensation distributed on the infe- 
rior turbinated bones than the proper olfactory 
nerve distributed on the superior ones. 

A nose which is very elevated or of that form 
called Roman, permits a more direct, extensive, and 
continued application of odours and is more cal- 
culated for their enjoyment ; because, in that case, 
odours pass more directly upward to impress the 
olfactory nerve on the superior turbinated bones, 
and are calculated to be detained in the thus en- 
larged cavity which immediately surrounds these. 

The short or upturned nose is evidently calcu- 
lated to receive rapid impressions, and of course to 
lead to correspondingly rapid emotions ; and it 
therefore indicates the rapidity with which they 
are sought. 



258 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

The long and drooping or overhanging nose is 
evidently calculated slowly to receive impressions, 
and of course with corresponding slowness to lead 
to emotions ; and it therefore indicates the reserve 
with which they are sought. 




Width of the nose indicates the permanence of 
its functions ; its height, their intensity. 

The nose, however, as well as the mouth, has 
intellectual sympathies and associations — though 
these are secondary, not primary effects, and they 
will consequently afford corresponding indications. 

The further observations which I have made 
about the lower and upper lip apply likewise to the 
nose. — That organ possesses little mobility ; but 
still it is its lower part which has any share of 
motion, and its upper which is destitute of it, 



TO INDIVIDUALS. 



259 



The lower part of the nose will, accordingly, be 
found to be active in the procuring of animal emo- 
tion — its wings expanding to inhale the air or the 
odours which it wafts ; and its form and develope- 
ment must therefore be regarded as indicating 
power for procuring emotion, as the under lip indi- 
cates capability of procuring passion. — [See the 
following figures as indicating a greater or a less 
degree of such capability.] 



The upper part of the nose, on the contrary, being 
immoveable, can only give expansion for the enjoy- 
ment of such emotion ; and its form and develope- 
ment can only be regarded, as indicating capacity 
for enjoying emotion, as the upper lip indicates 
capability for enjoying passion. 

Consistently with the mere physical capability 




C 




260 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

of the short or upturned nose to receive rapid im- 
pressions, and to lead to rapid emotions, persons 
with such a nose, are generally quick and pert. The 
same is remarkable among quadrupeds : the pug 
dog, for instance, has such a form of nose, and 
precisely such habits. — This form of nose is some- 
times unseemly, from its exposing those cavities of 
the organ, which modesty would conceal ; and 
persons possessing this in excess are often not 
merely pert, but impudent, indelicate, or filthy. ^ 





Consistently with the mere physical capability 
of the long and drooping nose slowly to receive 
impressions and lead to emotions, persons with 



TO INDIVIDUALS. 



261 



such noses, are generally more reserved in cha- 
racter. 



As indulged emotion becomes sentiment when 
delicate, and is applied to immaterial objects, it is 
natural that the elevation of the nose and the 
delicacy of its form, combined with intellectual 
conditions, should indicate, not mere animal emo- 
tion, but intellectual sentiment. 





The absence of elevation and delicate outline of 



262 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

the nose, on the contrary, will be found to indicate 
absence of sentiment. 



The truth of this will be evident to all who con- 
trast a nose which is elevated and delicately formed, 
with one which is flat and coarsely formed — the 
expanded but beautiful nose of a Rousseau, that 
pattern of sentiment, with the degraded organ 
of a northern Irishman for instance, crushed above 
and protruding below, the ascription of sentiment 
to which would be absolutely ridiculous, and which 
accords only with practical indulgence, or with 
passion. 

The elevated nose, above described, will be fouud 
more frequently associated with a somewhat flat- 
tened posterior part of the head. — It would seem 




TO INDIVIDUALS. 263 

that, in the indulgence of emotion and sentiment, 
the energy of the functions were, in this case, ex- 
pended ; that therefore passion, connected with 
that part of the head, was less likely to be excited ; 
and that its organ consequently was less developed. 

The flattened nose will be found more frequently 
associated with an extended posterior part of the 
head, as in the negro. — It would seem, in this 
case, that emotion and sentiment were slighted for 
the gratification of passion ; that the air was in- 
haled chiefly for the purpose of respiration, on 
which muscular motion, the means of gratifying 
passion, depends ; and that the posterior part of 
the head was consequently more developed. 

The raising of the wing of the nose, in connex- 
ion with that of the lateral part of the upper lip, is 
evidently for the purpose of pleasurable emotion 
and passive gratification. That this association of 
these is natural, is further proved by the circum- 
stance, that this elevation in both parts is consen- 
taneous, and is effected by the same general muscle, 
the levator labii superioris alseque nasi. This ele- 



264 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

vation, therefore, indicates such pleasurable emo- 
tion and passive gratification. 



An eye of great magnitude indicates a capacity 
of receiving more powerful sensations of vision ; 
because the power of all organs, equally healthy, 
is ever in proportion to their developement. — 
Hence it is, that the frugivorous mammalia, which 
climb trees, have in general the eye large ; hence 
also it is, that animals with large eyes discern objects 
with less of light ; and hence it likewise is, that 
fishes which are destined to live in an obscurer me- 
dium, have these organs of great magnitude. 

A small eye, on the contrary, presents less capa- 





4. The Eye. 



TO INDIVIDUALS. 265 

city in this respect. — Hence, it is weak in the 
mole, &c. 

An eye projecting greatly from the orbit most 
readily receives impressions from every surrounding 
quarter — a circumstance which presents its own 
explication. 

The deeply seated eye has the opposite disadvan- 
tage, and is less readily impressed. 

Intellectually considered, persons with protrud- 
ing eyes seem ever in search of enjoyment ; and, 
animally considered, they are generally the slaves 
of sensual indulgence. 




Intellectually considered, deep-seated eyes have 
a death-like or cadaverous appearance, and the 
persons to whom they belong are generally colder 

N 



266 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

in their feelings, or have less sensibility ; and, ani- 
mally considered, they are generally less under the 
influence of sensual passions. 




An iris of dark colour seems to indicate more 
accurate inspection and generally firmer character ; 
because, by its means, all the scattered rays of 
light are absorbed, the iris, thus excited, diminishes 
the pupil, and the images of objects passing into 
the eye are rendered more definite and hard. — 
Hence, this colour of-eye is perhaps best suited to 
the male countenance. 

An iris of light blue colour indicates less accurate 
inspection and generally softer character ; because, 
by its means, some scattered rays, and in general 
a larger image, are permitted, and the impressions 
of objects are rendered more indefinite and soft. — 



TO INDIVIDUALS. 



267 



Hence, this colour of eye, perhaps, best suits the 
feminine countenance. 

The eyelids resemble the mouth and nose as to 
active and passive character. — The under eyelid 
rises or falls with pleasure or pain — in laughter 
or grief; while the upper receives or excludes 
impressions. 

Width of the eyes indicates the permanence of 
their functions ; their height, intensity. 

Eyelids, therefore, which are widely expanded, 
so as to give a round form to the eye, resembling 
its appearance in the cat, owl, &c. indicate intensity 
and keen inspection, but little sensibility ; because 
it is evident, that the eye-lids are thus habitually 
opened in order to receive a fuller view of the ob- 
ject inspected ; the impression it has already made 
being insufficient. 




Hence, in most fishes, which are distinguished 

n2 



268 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

for voracity, there is no moveable eye-lid; and 
hence, also, when mysterious or surprising objects 
are before us, the eyelids are expanded in amaze- 
ment. 

Eye-lids, on the contrary, which nearly close 
over the eye, indicate permanence and less keen 
perception, but greater sensibility. — Hence, when 
the eyes receive too strong impressions from the 
light of the sun, the eye-lids are more approxi- 
mated ; and hence, too, when a beloved object is 
before us, and the whole mind is filled with its 
image, the eye-lids also gradually close. 

\ 




Hence, the permanence and accuracy of observa- 
tion among the English, which adapts them for 
their excellence in mechanics, &c. and its quickness, 
sharpness, but instability, among the French, 



TO INDIVIDUALS. 



269 



which unfits them for similar pursuits, but adapts 
them for others. Hence monkeys, birds, &c. 
which all have the round expanded eye, are unstable 
in their motions. 

When the eye-brow, by its motions, adds to the 
depth of the eye, it indicates scrutiny and discern- 
ment ; because such motions depend upon a volun- 
tary employment of certain muscles in order accu- 
rately to adapt the eye to the objects examined. — 
Hence, the eye-brow is thus depressed where any 
object is closely inspected ; hence, also, the hand 
is raised over the eye to aid in the same purpose ; 
and hence persons reflecting are, by association, 
led thus to employ the muscles of the eye-brows in 
undulating or compressing them, even when no 
particular object is before the eye. 



\ 




For the same reason, the elevated, undulated, and 
compressed bony and feathery projection over the 



270 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

eye of the eagle, and the projection of similar form 
over the eye of the serpent, give a similar expres- 
sion of scrutiny and discernment ; and they actually 
do indicate it, because, like the corresponding pro- 
minence in man, they exclude unnecessary rays of 
light, and give a more accurate view of objects. — - 
As the eye-brows are seen to be thus undulated 
and compressed in paroxysms of anger, they are 
supposed by the vulgar only to indicate anger ; 
but the reason that they are then compressed is, 
because, in paroxysms of anger, the object which 
excites it is keenly inspected. 

An eye-brow greatly elevated, on the contrary, 
indicates the absence of severe thought, &c. 




\ 



to individuals. 271 

5. The Ear. 

The magnitude of the ear, like that of all other 
organs, doubtless indicates its greater capability, 
It is probable, however, that its susceptibility of 
impression also, in some measure, depends on its 
general thimiess, since we find that animals of very 
acute ear have the organ not only large, but very 
thin, as in the cat, hare, rat, mouse, bat, &c. 

The degree of the projection of the ear, doubt- 
less, contributes to the more ready collection of im- 
pressions ; yet, as ears which proj ect, are generally 
at the same time, turned forward, they more nearly 
resemble those of quadrupeds, and will be adapted 
chiefly to impressions from before, because, at the 
same time, they are incapable of turning, like those 
of quadrupeds, in any other direction. — Hence, 
such ears are defective, and inferior to the flattened 
and more beautiful form, by means of which im- 
pressions from various directions are more easily 
received. 

An ear which is long between its upper margin 
and its lobe, will bear most relation to the elevation 
and depression, or intensity of sound. 



272 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES. 

An ear of considerable breadth, on the contrary, 
will bear most relation to the diffusion, breadth, 
or permanence of sound. 

It is worthy of notice, that these forms of the 
ear generally accompany corresponding forms of 
the organ of voice ; and as such forms of the organ 
of voice always do produce elevated and depressed, 
or, on the contrary, broader tones, the ear is thus 
admirably adapted to receive such sounds as the 
voice emits. 

An ear presenting numerous elevations and de- 
pressions, and finely elaborate, is always more 
delicate — a circumstance which presents its own 
explication. 




An ear which is unelaborate or presents rather 
one general concavity, than many well defined ele- 



TO INDIVIDUALS. 273 

vations and depressions, is rarely possessed of 
delicacy. 




This is well illustrated by the difference between 
the ears of animals and men. 

The general rule, with regard to character, which 
may be drawn from this conformation, is conio}~ 
mable with the old observation that persons thus 
destitute of musical ear, rarely possess sensibility 
of any species, 

6. Parts belonging to the Organ of Voice. 

We have now chiefly to consider the mouth and 
nose, as well as the prominences of the cheeks and 
forehead, as constituting a portion of the organ of 
voice. 

The great length and narrowness of the space 
n 5 



274 APPLICATION OP THESE PRINCIPLES 

between the nose and the chin, always indicates 
shrillness and acuteness of voice. —Hence the ne- 
gro, who has this form of mouth, has a voice ex- 
tremely acute ; because, by this means, the palate 
is elevated and the ellipsis of the jaws rendered 
narrow or acute. 

The shortness and compressedness of this space, 
always indicates a voice which is correspondingly 
flat and compressed, arising from the opposite 
cause, namely, the flatness of the palate, &c* 

The width of the jaws always indicates a fuller 
voice, when they are not, at the same time, com- 
pressed, but are moderately capacious in height. 

Thus, as the elevation or depression of the voice 
— its variable quality, depends upon a variable 
motion of the glottis or flute part of the throat, so 
the fulness, or the poorness, or the flatness of the 
voice — its invariable quality, depends upon the in- 
variable form of the ellipsis of the jaws, which we 
have been just describing. 

Another quality of the voice is indicated by the 
form of the only parts of the face, which yet re- 
main to be mentioned, namely, the prominences of 



TO INDIVIDUALS. 275 

the cheeks, and those of the forehead immediately 
over and between the eyes. 

This quality — resonance of the voice, is in pro- 
portion to the expansion of these parts ; for the 
first mentioned prominences contain cavities called 
the maxillary, and the latter, cavities called the 
frontal sinuses, in which this resonance actually 
takes place. The former give resonance to the 
lower, and the latter to the upper notes. # 

It is in connexion with the voice and expression^ 
that this elevation of the frontal sinuses indicates 
force and activity of character. It is accordingly 
often found in men, never in women ; and, among 
animals, it characterises the lion, eagle, &c. 

It remains but to notice the chin and the teeth. 

As voice and the attitudes of the general figure 
are closely associated, — as they may aid each 

* Blumenbach has certainly mistaken the use of the frontal 
sinuses. — As to the ascription of individuality, locality, &c. 
to them, by Gall, as if they were cerebral organs,, it is non- 
sense ; because, as already said, the external has no precise 
resemblance to the internal table which forms them : they can 
aid as to locality, &c. only by protecting the eye and directing 
vision ; and this misled him. 



276 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 



the under-jaw and chin form the most important 
instrument of voice, — they may evidently be taken 
as representatives of that with which they are thus 
associated and interchangeable in expression, — 
they may be regarded as an epitome of the loco- 
motive system, and as indicating its qualities. # 



* Of the teeth, Mr. Murphy says, " The often repeated in- 
dulgence of any particular passion, may give to a countenance 
a cast expressive of that passion ; but no action or disposition 
of the mind [can have the least tendency to make the teeth 
long, or short, to regulate their order, or to render them sound 
and beautiful." 

The egregious error committed here is in supposing, that the 
passions only act on the organization, whereas the organiza- 
tion is an essential condition, if not the cause, of the passions. 
Thus, though no passions may be capable of making the teeth 
long or short, long or short teeth may, even if not a condition 
or cause of passion, be inseparably connected with, or be a 
concomitant effect of, certain passions or rather certain dis- 
positions. 

This in fact is the error here committed : the teeth are a 



other, or be interchanged, in expression, — and as 





TO INDIVIDUALS. 



277 



Section VII. — Correspondence between some Parts 
of the Face and posterior Parts of the Head. 

It is peculiarly remarkable, that the projection 
of the occiput on which, as I have said, depends the 
exercise of passion, corresponds accurately with 
the projection of the alveolar processes and teeth, 
or rather of the lips on which depend the gratifi- 
cation and expression of passion ; so that the pro- 
minence of the posterior part of the brain may 
always be predicted from the prominence of that 
part of the face. 

This I mention merely as corroborating the view 
I have taken of the functions of the two parts. — 

portion of the motive, not of the mental, system, and they can 
directly indicate the functions only of the motive system; but 
as all the systems of the body are connected and influence 
each other, broad and short teeth, which indicate stability and 
firmness of the motive system, may easily be associated wkh 
the same qualities in the mental system, and therefore may 
indicate these; and narrow and long teeth^ which indicate 
instability and feebleness in the motive system, may also be 
easily associated with the same qualities in the mental system, 
and therefore may indicate these. 



278 APPLICATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES 

The correspondence which I have next to mention 
- — of the cerebellum or organ of motion, with cer- 
tain bony and muscular parts of the jaws which 
obey its most important mandates, as to food, 
voice, &c. is interesting, not only on account of 
this corroboration of previous views, but as enabling 
the student, by an examination of the face, accu- 
rately to predict the breadth and the length of the 
cerebellum, which, owing to its being in a great 
measure surrounded by the muscles of the neck, 
he could not otherwise determine. 

The breadth of the cerebellum, then, corresponds 
to the breadth of the face over the cheek bones or 
the prominences of the cheeks ; and the length of 
the cerebellum corresponds to the length of the 
lower jaw measured from the tip of the chin to the 
angle. From the cheek bones, arises the greater 
portion of one of the most important muscles, the 
masseter, which is inserted into the angle of the 
jaw, placing it thereby under the controul of the 
cerebellum, as the organ of volition ; and it is re- 
markable that the breadth of the cerebellum, on 
which the permanence of its functions depends, 



TO INDIVIDUALS. 279 

corresponds to the breadth of the fixed bones, and 
that the length of the cerebellum, on which the in- 
tensity of its functions depends, corresponds to the 
length of the moveable bone. 



CONCLUSION. 

Thus I have laid down all the great principles 
of physiognomy. These principles the reader may, 
with facility, apply critically to the drawings of 
Lavater, so as to shew the natural laws to which 
his taste directed him, and on which, in most 
cases, his judgment was founded, although he 
failed to detect, define, and enunciate them. Such 
application will, to some readers, facilitate the 
study. Those, however, who have carefully ex- 
amined the preceding principles will find least 
difficulty and greatest advantage in at once apply- 
ing them to the living figure, head, and face in 
particular. The diligent practice of a single week 
will, in this case, give surprising ease in the indica- 
tion of character. 



APPENDIX, 



ON 

THE BONES AT HYTHE, 

THE SCULLS OF THE ANCIENT INHABITANTS OF BRITAIN 
AND OF THEIR INVADERS. 

Illustrated by Drawings, * 

Historians, topographers, tourists, and travellers' guides all 
make mention of the extraordinary collection of sculls and 
other bones in the crypt of the church of Hythe, and some 
add that they are of gigantic size ; yet no anthropologist has 
given any rational account of them. 

Being convinced that this is important, not merely as en- 
abling us to confirm some one of the vague accounts of their 
origin, but, which is of far greater importance, as throwing 
light on the ancient population and configuration of the head in 
this country (for this it will be found to do), I now propose to 
undertake this task — premising some historical statements, 
as to the ancient fort at Folkestone, and the battle field on 
which these sculls were found, which are necessary to under- 
standing the general interest which attaches to them. 

Folkestone appears to have been known to the Romans, and 
to have had, in its neighbourhood, a strong fort — probably 
one of those towers which the Romans, under Theodosius the 
Younger, are said to have built upon the south coast of Bri- 
tain, to guard it against the depredations of the Saxons. This 

* This Paper was originally sketched for one who promised to ex- 
tend this enquiry. Having failed to do so, the sketch reverts to the 
writer. 



APPENDIX. 



281 



Roman fort, we are told, was built on a hill more than a mile 
and a half distant from the sea shore, 'and was surrounded 
with a strong entrenchment. 

It is supposed, that the fort in question was situated on the 
summit of the eminence, called Castle-hill or Caesar's Camp, 
about a mile and a half northward from the church at Folke- 
stone, where the remains of entrenchments are still very 
evident. 

From these, it appears, that the inner or upper part of the 
work was of oval shape, and the outer works nearly similar ; the 
whole containing about two acres. On the south-east, where 
the hill is steep, it has a single ditch ; on the east, a double 
one ; and on the north and west, a treble one. The whole 
surface of the hill is now entirely covered with greensward ; 
though, in various views, its ditches and their communications 
give to the top of the hill the same appearance as if a vast 
crown were cut out upon it. 

After the departure of the Romans, this fort was taken pos- 
session of, first by the Britons, and afterwards by the Saxons, 
who called it Folcestane, that is, says an old historian, populi 
lapis. 

In 456, near this place, or between Folkestone and Hythe, a 
bloody battle is said to have been fought between the Britons 
under Vortimer, and the Saxons retreating before him, after a 
conflict with them on the banks of the Darent, in the western 
part of this county, when, gaining a complete victory, he drove 
them into the isle of Thanet. 

There is, indeed, some difference among writers as to the 
site of this battle; but, as Nennius and others say, it was 
fought in a field on the shore of the Gallic sea, where stood 
the Lapis Tituli which Somner and Stillingfleet read Lapis 
Populi, that is Folkestone, it seems most probable that it was 
in the situation we have described. 



282 



APPENDIX. 



What adds strength to this conjecture, say some older writers, 
" are the two vast heaps of skulls and bones piled up in two 
vaults under the churches of Folkestone and Hythe ; which, 
from the number of them, could not be but from some battle. 
They appear, by their whiteness, to have been all bleached, by 
lying some time on the sea shore. Several of the sculls have 
deep cuts in them, as if made by some heavy weapon, most 
likely of the Saxons. Probably those at Hythe were of the 
Britons, and those at Folkestone of the Saxons, who were pur- 
sued by them in that direction. — After this, the fort was made 
use of by several princes, to keep the distressed Britons in 
subjection, and King Ethelbert is reported to have rebuilt it." 

I should here remark, that there now remains no collection 
of bones under the church at Folkestone, where, I was told, 
they had many years been interred. 

Under the church at Hythe, however, the pile was formerly 
twenty-eight feet in length, and eight in height as well as in 
breadth ; and it was, not many years ago, of nearly similar 
dimensions. 

Several of the sculls have been observed to be marked with 
deep cuts ; and one, which is carefully preserved, is remark- 
able for the number of these cuts, of which some present gra- 
nulations along their sides. 

The sculls are not, however, those of one race, either British 
or Saxon, but those of several. 

In the crypt, is suspended a written statement, which does 
not agree with other accounts, contains some inconsistencies, 
and seems altogether much less probable : it is as follows : — 

" Anno Domini 843 (in the reign of Ethelwolf), the Danes 
landed on the coast of Kent, near to the town of Hyta, and 
proceeded as far as Canterbury, a great part of which they 
burned. At length, Gustavus (then governor of Kent) raised 
a considerable force, with which he opposed their progress, — 



APPENDIX. 



283 



and, after an engagement in which the Danes were defeated, 
he pursued them to their shipping on the sea coast, where they 
made a most obstinate resistance. The Britons were, how- 
ever, victorious; but the slaughter was prodigious; there 
being no less than 30,000 left dead. After the battle, the 
Britons, wearied with fatigue, and perhaps shocked with the 
slaughter, returned to their homes, leaving the slain on the 
field of battle, where, being exposed to the different changes 
of weather, the flesh fell from the bones, which were after- 
wards collected, and piled in heaps by the inhabitants, who 
in time removed them into a vault in one of the churches at 
Hyta — now called Hythe." 

Some years ago, I visited Hythe, and I could not^help 
being struck with the circumstance, that two forms of scull, 

VERY DISTINCT FROM EACH OTHER, PREDOMINATED : One, 

a long narrow scull, greatly resembling the Celtic of the present 
day ; — the other, a short broad scull, greatly resembling the 
Gothic. — [See Fig. 1 & 2 of Plate XXI.] 

These were mixed with others of less definite character, in 
general so varied as to fall under no such obvious classification, 
and some of them, from appearances, more questionable as to 
age. 

It seemed especially remarkable, that none of the other 
forms of scull (but one to be afterwards mentioned) so com- 
pletely differed from the living forms which now prevail in the 
neighbourhood, and that the two I have mentioned lo.oked, 
among the rest, like primitive and, so far as regards the present 
population of Kent, extinct types, from which the others 
might, by intermarriages, have descended. 

The scull of the English bull dog scarcely differs more from 
that of the Italian greyhound, than these two heads do : the 
rest, except the one alluded to, might almost have belonged to 
the present population. 



284 



APPENDIX. 



The long and narrow scull, I found, on an average 
of those examined, to be nearly seven inches and a half in length 
from glabella to occiput, and nearly Jive inches and a half in 
breadth, from the prominent part of one parietal bone to ano- 
ther. — [See Fig. l.j 

The short and broad scull, I found, on an average of 
those examined, to be about six inches three quarters in length, 
and above six inches in breadth. — [See Fig. 2.] 

In height, from occipital hole to vertex, the long scull, mea- 
suring more than five inches, a little exceeded the broad one. 

Thus, while the broad scull was three quarters of an inch 
shorter than the long one, it was above half an inch broader ! 

These, corresponding with other observations, left no doubt 
in my mind that the former head was Celtic or ancient 
British, and the latter, Gothic — Saxon, or Danish. 

I was resolved, however, to corroborate this conclusion by 
as many other circumstances as possible. — One soon occurred 
which gave me this satisfaction as to the British head. 

The position of Castle-hill, or Caesar's camp, at first sight, 
struck me as being, previous to the use of artillery, so well 
calculated for defence, that it was likely, in all ages, to have 
been a British camp or castle ; * and being told, that, when 
the farmers dug for chalk during the winter, they sometimes 
found skeletons doubled up in square holes, and covered with 
masses of chalk, which they called " digging up a Roman," 
but which seemed to me a great deal liker digging up a Briton, 
I repaired to that neighbourhood. 

Unfortunately, the only two persons who were known to 
have sculls belonging to such skeletons, had removed ; but, 

* It would now be more easily commanded from the high ground 
on the north j and had the castle stood, it could only, in its pur- 
poses, have resembled that of Dover commanded from the Deal road, 
in being useful to the aristocracy, and utterly worthless to the nation. 



APPENDIX. 



285 



returning to Hythe, I learned that there were two of these, 
dug from the chalk at Csesar's Camp, in the possession of one 
of the churchwardens, which he might probably be induced 
to dispose of. 

I was then in the crypt examining sculls ; my informant 
on this occasion was Mr. Chamberlain, clerk to the church at 
Hythe ; various persons were present ; and, on the sculls 
being sent for, I did not hesitate to predict, that they would 
he found similar to the British sculls in the crypt. 

The surprise of all present was greater than mine, at finding 
that the sculls, which had been dug from the chalk of tlie ancient 
camp, and which were now brought, were in no way distin- 
guishable from the British sculls in the crypt, but by their sur- 
faces having been curiously corroded by the chalk in which they 
had been, for perhaps nearly two thousand years, imbedded. 

So exactly similar indeed is one of these to the other, that 
the measure I have now given of the British scull accurately 
applies to both ! — [See Fig. 1, of Plate XXII.] 

A circumstance also occurred which corroborated my opi- 
nion as to the Saxon head. 

Mr. Chamberlain accidentally mentioned, that, when, on 
one occasion he examined the pile of bones, he had found red 
hair still adhering to some of the sculls, though he could not 
tell on what form of head. 

Seeing all the importance of this, since red hair was a strik- 
ing characteristic of the Gothic nations, though perfectly confi- 
dent it must have been found on the short and broad sculls, 
I immediately set to work in digging into the pile. 

I had not proceeded far, when I found several sculls with 
?nasses of redhair matted upon them, and adhering by mere ap- 
position, if I may use the term, to the bone. 

In every instance, these were the short and broad Gothic sculls ; 
and nothing of the kind could be discerned on the British ! 



286 



APPENDIX. 



But I have said there was here another kind of sculls, 
fewer in number, but not to be confounded with the rest, and 
indeed not less remarkable than those I have now described. 

These sculls are far more capacious than either of the pre- 
ceding : the average length of those examined being about seven 
inches ; their breadth, about six inches and a half; and their 
height, about six inches. They are also far more solid, heavy, 
and strong, than either of the preceding kinds. 

Notwithstanding this capacity and strength, however, they 
are universally in a more imperfect state — all the upper jaws, 
cheekbones, &c. being gone — circumstances which indicate 
that they have been much longer subject to accidents, and are 
therefore more ancient.-— [See Fig, 2, of Plate XXII.J 

These last are evidently Roman sculls. They bear 
a close resemblance to others of that ancient race ; as to that 
in the Decades of Blumenbach, of which he says, it has " Pro- 
tuberantia occipitalis externa latissima et ingenter eminens," 
an external occipital protuberance very broad, and extremely 
prominent. 

The same opinion I may mention was entertained by Dr. 
Spurzheim, to whom I showed specimens, and who agreed 
with me also as to the others described above. 

Indeed, it seems as impossible to doubt of the race, as to 
view one of these large sculls, in comparison with one of each 
of the preceding, without ceasing to be surprized, that the 
Roman was easily the conqueror, and the master of the other 
races around him. 

These last sculls had doubtless fallen in a previous age, on 
the same battle field ; for its vicinity was the landing place of 
all the robbers of those times. 



141949 



hi the press, and speedily will be published, 

THE NERVOUS SYSTEM: 



TO WHICH IS PREFIXED SOME ACCOUNT OF THE 



DISCOVERIES MADE BY THE WRITER, 



AS TO THAT SYSTEM , 



AND SUBSEQUENTLY TREATED OF BY 



MESSRS. ROLANDO, BELL, MAG EN DIE, MAYO, 
BELLI NGERI, FLOUSENS, DESMOULINS, 
SCHOEPF, ETC. 



BY ALEXANDER WALKER, 



LONDON : 
PRINTED BY STEWART AND 
OLD BAILEY. 



